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OF 


ERNST    MORITZ    ARNDT 

T/ie  Si?iger  of  the  German  Fatherland. 


Compileti  from  the  (Scrmau. 


WITH  A  PREFACE  BY 


JOHN    ROBERT   SEELEY,    M.A., 

Professor  of  Modern  History  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 


BOSTON: 

ROBERTS    BROTHERS. 

1879. 


HENRY  MOR 


se  STEPHKS8 


PREFACE. 


1  HAVE  been  asked  to  prefix  a  few  pages  of  introduction 
to  this  book,  which  resembles  my  own  "  Life  and  Times 
of  Stein,"  recently  published,  so  far  that  it  might  almost 
as  appropriately  bear  for  a  second  title,  "  Germany  and 
Prussia  in  the  Napoleonic  Age." 

The  Napoleonic  age  is  only  now  beginning  to  be 
studied  fr  om  a  political  point  of  view.  It  has  not 
hitherto  been  understood  that  the  wars  which  filled  it 
concealed  a  great  European  revolution,  in  which  the 
most  important  ideas  of  the  present  age  first  took  shape. 
It  has  been  overlooked  that  the  conquests  and  recon- 
quests  and  the  territorial  redistributions  brought  about, 
particularly  in  Germany,  by  those  wars  are  important 
for  their  own  sake,  and  not  merely  as  incidents  in  a 
military  romance.  It  has  also  been  overlooked  that  the 
European  Revolution,  which  was  involved  in  Napoleon's 
fall,  had  a  character  of  its  own,  and  was  by  no  means  a 
mere  extension  to  all  Europe  of  the  ideas  of  the  French 
Revolution.  If  we  try  to  analyse  and  trace  to  their  origin 
the  most  important  movements  that  have  occupied  the 
Continent  since  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  we  shall   not  find 

-'  -n^  A  O  -^   -1 


iv  Pt'eface. 

ourselves  led  back  nearly  so  much  as  is  supposed  to 
1789 ;  we  shall  rather  be  arrested  by  the  German  War 
of  Liberation,  by  the  Spanish  rising  of  1808,  and  by  the 
reconstruction  of  the  Prussian  State  after  Tilsit.  Beside 
"  the  immortal  ideas  of  1789,"  of  which  we  have  heard  so 
much,  there  were  immortal  ideas  of  1808  and  of  1813, 
which  have  been  scarcely  less  influential. 

The  cause  which  has  prevented  us  from  clearly  seeing 
this  has  been  the  bewildering  abundance  of  military  in- 
cident which  fills  the  period.  Neither  historians  nor  their 
readers  have  much  attention  to  bestow  upon  the  political 
consequences  of  the  campaigns,  because  the  campaigns 
themselves  are  so  absorbing.  Napoleon  might  seem,  by  a 
second  Eighteenth  of  Brumaire,  to  have  established  the 
same  sort  of  despotism  over  the  history  of  his  age  that 
he  established  over  the  age  itself  We  are  so  occupied 
in  praising  or  denouncing  him  that  we  can  scarcely  attend 
to  anything  else. 

In  my  opinion  it  is  better  to  denounce  than  to  praise 
him,  but  it  would  be  better  still  for  writers  on  the  period 
to  disregard  him  more  than  they  do.  We  may  be  quite 
sure,  in  the  first  place,  that  we  enormously  exaggerate 
the  effect  of  his  personal  qualities  in  creating  his  empire  ; 
but  even  if  it  were  otherwise,  why  should  an  individual 
be  allowed  to  eclipse  states  and  nations  ?  If  Napoleon 
were  the  greatest  man  that  ever  lived,  he  would  still  be 
less  great  than  Prussia  or  Germany  ;  and  yet,  as  the  his- 
tory of  this  period  has  hitherto  been  written,  this  indivi- 
dual, with  his  fifty  years  of  life,  has  been  allowed  to  throw 
those  great  secular  growths  wholly  into  the  shade.  How 
he  overthrew  the  Prussian  State  in  a  few  weeks   (not 


Preface.  v 

much  less  quickly,  in  fact,  than  he  himself  was  over- 
thrown in  1 815)  is  related  with  profuse  rhetoric  of 
admiration  ;  but  what  this  Prussian  State  was  which 
he  overthrew,  the  French  and  most  of  the  English  his- 
torians of  the  time  are  ignorant  to  an  incredible  degree. 
What  is  really  interesting  in  the  campaign  of  1806  is 
not  Napoleon,  but  Prussia.  By  what  exact  combination 
of  skill  and  luck  Napoleon  won  a  battle  or  two  is  of 
trifling  importance,  compared  to  the  question  by  what 
secret  disease  the  Monarchy  of  Frederick  the  Great 
had  been  so  far  undermined  that  it  could  not  abide  the 
shock. 

All  this  I  have  discussed  at  length  elsewhere.  But  a 
difficulty  arises  when,  after  arriving  at  the  conclusion 
that  the  Napoleonic  age,  considered  politically,  deserves 
to  be  known  much  better  than  it  is,  we  inquire  how  is  a 
knowledge  of  it  to  be  generally  diffused  ? 

That  popular  knowledge  of  history,  which  is  none  the 
less  important  because  specialists  may  think  that  it 
cannot  but  be  superficial,  must  always  be  imparted  by 
means  of  personal  narrative.  States  and  governments, 
not  persons,  are  indeed,  as  I  hold,  the  real  subject  of 
history,  and  the  specialist  may  think  that  the  promi- 
nence which  has  commonly  been  given  to  individuals 
in  historical  narrative  is  unphilosophical.  But  it  is  one 
question  how  history  ought  to  be  written  for  the  pur- 
poses of  science,  and  another  by  what  means  some 
useful  knowledge  of  it  may  be  generally  diffused.  The 
mass  of  mankind,  those  who  have  little  leisure  for 
reading,  and  no  motive  for  it  but  amusement,  will  not 
read  any  more  about  states  and  governments  than  can 


vi  Preface. 

be  presented  to  them  in  biographies  of  famous  men. 
If,  therefore,  we  wish  to  give  currency  to  a  truer  view 
of  the  Napoleonic  age,  and  to  turn  popular  attention 
towards  that  aspect  of  it  which  has  hitherto  been 
overlooked,  namely,  the  permanent  changes  which  it 
made  in  European  politics,  and  away  from  its  mere 
passing  brawls,  which  were  so  incredibly  noisy,  we  must 
evidently  begin  by  giving  prominence  to  the  persons 
through  whose  lives  this  aspect  of  the  age  can  be  con- 
templated. 

I  have  myself  been  led  by  this  consideration  to  write 
the  life  of  Stein  on  a  large  scale,  and  for  the  same 
reason  I  have  heard  with  interest  of  the  proposal  to 
collect  and  edit  the  various  autobiographical  writings  of 
Arndt. 

The  English  reader  of  this  book  will  find  himself  con- 
templating an  aspect  of  the  Napoleonic  age  which  is 
likely  to  be  somewhat  new  to  him.  He  will  neither 
look  at  it,  as  he  has  often  done,  from  England,  watching 
the  wars  from  a  distance,  and  from  the  heart  of  a  society 
Avhich  was  only  made  more  insular  and  more  narrow 
in  its  notions  by  the  prodigious  revolutions  which  it 
witnessed  ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  will  he  watch  it  from 
the  camp  of  Napoleon  or  of  Wellington,  where  the 
absorbing  tumult  of  war  distracts  the  attention  from 
permanent  changes  and  results.  He  will  watch  it  in 
the  main  from  Germany,  but  not,  as  he  has  so  often 
done  before,  through  the  eyes  of  some  mere  philosopher 
or  recluse  poet,  of  Goethe  or  Schiller  or  Jean  Paul, 
but  through  the  eyes  of  one  who  felt  intensely  the  pres- 
sure of  his  time,  who  himself  joined  and  suffered  in  the 


Preface.  vii 

struggle  of  his  country  against  Napoleon.  In  this 
biography,  therefore,  the  reader  can  without  trouble,  and 
not  without  pleasure,  make  himself  acquainted  with  the 
Napoleonic  age  as  it  appeared  to  an  ordinar}^  civilian, 
who,  though  himself  but  a  minor  actor  in  the  play, 
knew  personally  many  of  the  principal  actors  and  with- 
out often  taking  a  share  in  great  events  was  sometimes 
a  spectator  of  them,  and  generally  mixed  in  the  crowd 
which  met  to  discuss  them  on  the  morrow.  He  will  not 
be  required  to  study  intricate  matters  of  legislation  or 
diplomacy,  but  he  will  be  introduced  to  the  difficulties, 
the  abuses,  the  miseries,  which  made  necessary  the  vast 
internal  and  external  changes  out  of  which  modern  Ger- 
many has  risen. 

This  book,  in  fact,  may  serve  the  purpose  for  which  the 
historical  novel  was  invented,  and  in  a  better  way. 

When  a  Scott  relates  the  adventures  of  some  young 
lover  or  soldier  playing  a  minor  part  in  one  of  the 
great  scenes  of  history,  it  is  supposed  that  his  reader 
imbibes  history  unconsciously,  and  catches  the  character 
of  an  age  without  the  trouble  of  studying  its  documents. 
But  the  theory  of  the  historical  novel  is  open  to  many 
objections,  which  have  led  Gervinus  to  pronounce  upon 
it  the  damning  sentence  that  it  "  does  not  satisfy  the 
taste  for  art  nor  yet  cultivate  the  taste  for  history." 
How  can  the  novelist  teach  history  unless  he  knows  it 
himself?  Yet  it  is  greatly  to  underrate  the  difficulty  of 
acquiring  a  true  knowledge  of  history  to  suppose  that  a 
novelist  is  at  all  likely  to  have  it.  From  such  writings, 
in  fact,  we  do  not  commonly  catch  the  character  of  an 
age,  but  only  the  character  of  a  particular  novelist's  imagi- 


viii  Pi'eface. 

nation  ;  to  them  the  famous  words  are  eminently  appli- 
cable : 

"  "Was  ihr  den  Geist  der  Zeiten  heisst 
Das  ist  im  Grund  der  Herren  eigener  Geist 
In  dem  die  Zeiten  sich  abspiegeln. 

But  in  a  candid  biography  like  this  of  Arndt's  we 
really  do  catch  in  some  degree  the  spirit  of  an  age. 
Here  we  see,  not  what  a  poet  living  in  some  other  age 
fancied  may  have  been  the  feelings  of  a  German  living 
under  Napoleon's  tyranny,  but  what  the  feelings  of  such 
a  German  actually  were. 

I  think  these  memoirs,  simple  and  modest  as  they  are, 
have  a  right  to  live.     Arndt  never  imagined  himself  to 
be  a  great  man,  nor  supposed   either  that  anything  he 
had  done  deserved,  on  its  own  account,  to  be  recorded, 
or  that  any  of  his  thoughts  deserved  to  be  remembered 
for  their  wisdom  or  depth.     But  he  led  such  a  life,  and 
had  such  a  character,  that  his  autobiography  necessarily, 
as  I  said,  has  the  value  of  a  historical  novel.     His  life 
reflects  his  time,  because  it  was  decisively  influenced  by 
it.     Nine  out  of  ten  Professors  in  Greifswald  or  any  other 
German  University  led    substantially  the  same  sort  of 
life  under  Napoleon  that  they  would  have  led  earlier  in 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  or  later  in  the  German  Con- 
federation. They  gave  their  lectures,  wrote  their  treatises, 
read,  smoked,  and  in  due  time  departed  to  another  state 
of  existence.     But  Arndt  struggled  with  Napoleon  as 
closely  and  continually  as  any  German  prince  or  soldier. 
Napoleon,  who  possibly  never  heard  his   name,   deter- 
mined the  complexion  of  his  whole  life.     And  moreover 


Preface.  ix 

Arndt's  character  was  a  remarkably  clear  mirror  for  his 
time  to  reflect  itself  in.  He  was  all  candour,  warmth, 
and  cheerfulness.  He  has  no  peculiarity  which  might 
have  coloured  his  view  of  things.  He  has  the  Homeric 
ballad-singer's  freedom  of  narrative  and  description.  He 
sees  and  enjoys  everj-thing,  and  he  does  not  seem  tempted 
to  alter  or  improve  or  philosophise  too  much  upon  what 
he  sees. 

Hence  it  is  that  not  only  the  persons  and  occurrences 
of  his  age,  but  the  general  character  by  which  it  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  ages  before  and  after  it,  is  faithfully 
reflected  in  his  narrative.  There  is,  indeed,  a  family  like- 
ness among  all  the  famous  writers  of  the  Napoleonic 
period. 

The  romances  in  verse  and  prose  of  Scott,  the  Eastern 
tales  of  Byron,  the  romantic  ballads  of  Uhland,  the 
war-songs  of  Korner  and  Schenkendorf,  and  the  "  Her- 
mannsschlacht  "  of  Kleist,  represent  in  literature  that 
strongly-marked  time.  Now  in  Arndt's  life  and  cha- 
racter may  be  seen  what  the  influences  were  which  gave 
those  writings  their  common  character.  A  society  so  dis- 
turbed with  perpetual  change  that  a  quiet  professor  leads 
almost  the  life  of  a  Robin  Hood,  would  produce  a  litera- 
ture full  of  incident  and  stirring  adventure,  a  literature 
inclining  towards  the  ballad  and  romance.  But  there 
is  something  more  special  in  this  literature,  there  is  a 
great  idea  working  in  it,  and  whence  this  idea  came 
we  see  in  a  moment  when  we  follow  such  a  life  as 
Arndt's.  It  might  seem  at  first  sight  as  if  those  poets 
aimed  at  nothing  but  fantastic  wildness  and  variety,  so 
outlandish  are  the  scenes  to   which   they  take   us,  so 


X  Preface. 

extravagant  are  the  topics,  taken  from  the  wildest 
fancies  both  of  the  East  and  the  West,  which  they  treat. 
But  it  was  no  mere  accident  which  just  at  that  moment 
opened  such  a  rich  vein  of  romance,  nor  was  it  a  caprice 
of  taste  which  caused  the  public  to  take  pleasure  again 
in  fancies  which  the  eighteenth  century  seemed  to  have 
outgrown.  Reaction,  no  doubt,  had  much  to  do  with 
it,  and  the  French  Revolution,  which  saves  the  students 
of  that  age  so  much  trouble  in  seeking  causes,  had  also 
much  to  do  with  it.  But  another  cause  began  to  operate 
in  the  very  middle  of  the  Napoleonic  age,  which  was 
more  directly  adapted  to  produce  the  precise  result  than 
any  of  those  which  are  usually  alleged.  For  what  this 
group  of  writers  make  it  their  especial  business  to  de- 
scribe is  nations.  We  say  of  Scott  that  he  "  discovered 
Scotland."  In  fact,  the  mine  upon  which  he  was  so 
lucky  as  to  light  was  a  new  nation,  or  rather  two  nations, 
which  had  hitherto  been  scarcely  known.  He  revealed 
to  us  the  Highland  clans,  barbarians  in  the  midst  o^ 
civilisation  ;  he  revealed  also  the  Lowland  Scotch,  by 
marking  with  rich  detail  and  humour  their  national 
peculiarities.  Among  the  various  points  of  difference 
which  critics  have  noted  between  Scott  and  Shakespeare, 
this  is  the  most  important,  that  what  he  paints  is  not 
so  much  the  individual,  nor  even  the  class,  but  rather 
the  tribe  or  clan,  that  the  differences  for  which  he  has 
an  eye  are  those  which  are  produced  by  distinct  locality 
and  distinct  history.  The  Oriental  poems  of  which  the 
same  age  was  so  fruitful  are  evidently  suggested  by  the 
same  idea.  Byron  undertakes  to  describe  "the  clime  of 
the  East,  the  land  of  the  Sun  !"     He  seems  to  say,  "  If 


Preface.  xi 

you  want  quaint  ways  of  life,  if  you  want  national  pecu- 
liarities, come  with  me  ;  I  can  show  you  people  as  wild 
as  the  wildest  Highlanders.  As  Scott  has  shown  you 
how  the  North  differs  from  the  South,  I  will  show  you 
how  the  East  differs  from  the  West."  And  there  is  the 
same  idea,  though  here  we  have  another  aspect  of  it,  at 
the  bottom  of  the  war-songs  and  ballads  of  the  German 
poets  of  the  same  time.  They  too  are  thinking  of  a 
nation,  of  national  character  and  national  peculiarities  ; 
only  they  do  not  contemplate  a  foreign  nation  and 
amuse  their  fancy  with  its  peculiarities,  but  they  become 
for  the  first  time  conscious  of  their  own  nationality,  and 
of  the  preciousness  of  it. 

Now  of  course  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that  this 
poetry  of  nationalities  had  been  growing  up  gradually 
for  a  long  time.  Gotz  v.  Berlichingen  (1773)  is  as 
intensely,  though  not  so  passionately,  German  as  the 
"  Hermannssqhlacht "  of  Kleist :  Macpherson  had  pre- 
ceded Scott  by  as  many  years.  But  Arndt's  life  will 
show  us  what  the  influence  was  which  gave  this  bent  to 
all  poetic  imaginations  in  the  latter  years  of  the  war.  It 
was  Napoleon's  attack  on  the  principle  of  nationality  ; 
it  was  the  imminent  danger  of  the  absorption  of  all 
nations  in  a  universal  Empire.  He  himself,  the  singer 
of  the  "German  Fatherland,"  has  told  us  that  the 
feeling  which  that  song  expresses  was  originally  ex- 
cited by  the  disasters  of  Germany  in  1805 -6.  Before 
that,  he  tells  us,  he  had  rather  felt  as  a  Swede,  but 
then  "my  Swedish  particularism  died  within  me,  the 
heroes  of  Sweden  in  my  heart  became  now  mere 
echoes  of  the  past ;  when  Germany,  through  her  discord. 


xii  Preface. 

had   ceased  to  exist,   my   heart   recognised  her  as   one 
and  united  !' 

The  history  of  Europe  from  1808  to  18 14  is  the  history 
of  the  revival  of  the  principle  of  nationality  in  one  nation 
after  another.  In  1808  the  signal  is  given  by  Spain, 
Tyrol  follows  in  1809,  Russia  in  18 12,  Germany  in  181 3. 
Such  a  movement  was  the  most  poetical  that  can  be 
imagined  ;  the  idea  of  the  Nation,  which  animates  the 
classical  literatures,  and  had  been  cherished  in  the  more 
primitive  peoples  of  modern  Europe,  but  had  long  been 
obscured  in  some  of  the  greatest  of  European  countries, 
particularly  Germany  and  Italy,  now  revived.  The  con- 
ception of  a  great  corporate  Person  with  a  lifetime  of 
many  centuries,  with  a  strongly-marked  character,  ex- 
pressing itself  in  usages,  religion  and  laws,  in  literature, 
popular  songs  and  proverbs,  and  also  in  the  fixed 
physical  type,  was  of  a  nature,  when  it  suddenly 
seized  upon  the  imagination,  to  give  birth  to  a  whole 
new  literature,  because  it  was  at  once  so  comprehensive 
and  so  picturesque.  To  embody  it  properly  a  multitude 
of  characters,  exhibiting  many  variations  of  a  common 
type,  must  be  drawn,  local  usages  and  scenery  must  be 
described  ;  in  fact,  such  a  literature  must  deal  freely  with 
all  that  is  most  amusing,  interesting,  and  romantic. 
And  as  in  the  nationality  the  great  and  humble,  the  king 
and  the  subject,  the  philosopher  and  the  peasant,  meet» 
so  the  literature  which  is  inspired  by  this  idea  will  be 
the  most  popular  and  the  most  various  that  can  be 
conceived. 

These  are  the  characteristics  of  the  kind  of  literature 
which  flourished  just   then,  and  which  we  connect  with 


Preface.  xiii 

the  name  of  Scott,  though  the  causes  which  created  it 
were  more  strongly  at  work  on  the  Continent  than  in 
England.  On  the  Continent  those  causes  have  produced, 
besides  the  popular  literature  we  have  spoken  of,  a  vast 
revival  of  interest  in  national  antiquities,  a  new  study  of 
Germanic  and  Slavonic  history  ;  for  it  is  easy  to  show 
that  the  modern  enthusiasm  for  national  history  has 
been  by  no  means  inspired  merely  by  scientific  curiosity, 
but  was  directly  aroused  by  the  struggle  of  the  nations 
with  Napoleon. 

Arndt's  personal  contribution  to  this  literature  cannot 
be  called  contemptible,  when  we  consider  the  vast  popu- 
larity some  of  his  lyrics  have  had.  He,  however,  always 
speaks  of  it  with  a  modesty  which  seems  quite  un- 
affected. But  when  we  turn  over  his  biography  we 
may  feel  that  though  others  worked  the  nationality  vein 
much  more  industriously,  yet  the  impulse  which  set  them 
to  work  may  be  traced  most  clearly  here.  Here  we  may 
see  how  Napoleon's  Empire  roused  by  reaction  the  idea 
of  nationality  in  an  individual's  mind  ;  then  how,  when 
his  wanderings  began,  he  passed  from  nation  to  nation, 
seeing  all  under  the  fresh  influence  of  this  idea. 
He  had  evidently  a  natural  pleasure  in  noting  the 
characteristics  of  different  races,  and  now  when  all  such 
distinctions,  the  result  of  local  separateness,  distinct 
institutions,  distinct  traditions,  were  in  danger  of  being 
effaced,  and  all  angles  were  rubbed  down  in  the  mill  of  a 
uniform  military  bureaucracy,  his  natural  eye  for  nation- 
alities is  sharpened.  This  gives  to  his  ramblings  in 
Sweden,  Germany,  Poland,  Russia  and  other  countries 
an   interest  they  would  not  otherwise  have.     He  has  a 


xiv  Preface. 

regretful  pleasure  in  the  variety  of  the  human  family  ; 
he  is  the  poet  of  the  tribe.  He  seems  to  preach  to  us 
that  though  local  influences  may  be  narrowing,  though 
local  opinions  may  be  of  the  nature  of  prejudice,  and 
though  local  attachments  may  threaten  human  affairs 
with  stagnation,  yet  on  the  other  hand  the  human  being 
would  cease  to  be  poetical,  cease  to  be  interesting,  if  by 
military  coercion,  or  any  other  sort  of  pressure,  he  could 
be  unrooted  from  his  locality  and  his  traditions,  and 
from  being  a  hand-made  product,  representing  all  the 
individual  thoughts  of  those  whose  care  shaped  him,  could 
become  a  machine-made  fabric,  the  exact  counterpart  of 
countless  others  turned  out  from  the  same  factory. 

For  all  these  reasons  these  simple  Memoirs  seem  to 
me  worth  looking  at,  even  at  this  distance  of  time. 
They  may  serve  as  a  sort  of  Erckmann-Chatrian  novel 
for  Germany,  showing  us  the  side  of  the  Napoleonic 
age  which  history  for  the  most  part  overlooks  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  they  have  the  advantage  over  every  novel 
that  they  are  true,  and  also  that  they  make  us  acquainted 
with  an  interesting  and  a  celebrated  man. 

J.  R.  SEELEY. 
March ^  ^879. 


The  following  Memoir  consists  mainly  of  a  translation 
of  Arndt's  autobiography,  abridged  in  many  places,  and 
occasionally  enlarged  by  quotations  from  his  letters  and 
other  writings.  Of  his  life  in  Russia,  and  during  the  War 
of  Liberation  he  has  given  a  double  account,  viz.,  that  in 
the  Autobiography,  and  another  in  his  "  Wanderings 
with  Stein."  In  the  chapters  on  these  subjects,  there- 
fore, those  which  seemed  the  most  suitable  passages  in 
both  books  have  been  selected.  The  account  of  the  later 
years  of  his  life  is  drawn  from  the  numerous  biographies, 
especially  those  of  Schenkel,  Langenberg,  and  Baur. 
Hoefer's  "  Arndt  und  die  Universitat  Greifswald,"  Arndt's 
"  Nothgedrungener  Bericht  aus  meinem  Leben,"  and  his 
"  Briefe  an  eine  Freundin." 

Acknowledgment  is  due  to  Professor  Seeley  for  the 
translations  of  "  Der  Gott  der  Eisen  wachsen  liess,"  and 
the  lines  on  the  deaths  of  Arndt's  wife  and  mother.  The 
other  verses  are  kindly  contributed  by  another  friend. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I.— Childhood. 

PAGE 

Life  at  Schoritz  and  Dumsewitz        .......         i 

CHAPTER  II.— Childhood  {cofiHitued). 
Grabitz. — Tutors. — Family  sketches 23 

CHAPTER  III.— School-days. 

The  Gymnasium  at  Stralsund. — Removal  of  his  father  to  Lobnitz — 
Runs  away  from  school        ........       50 

CHAPTER  IV.— University  Life  and  Travels. 

Goes  to  the  University  of  Greifswald,  then  to  Jena. — Travels  in  Ger- 
many, Italy,  France  and  Belgium . 75 

CHAPTER  V. — Professor  at  Greifswald, 

The  University  of  Greifswald. — Becomes  a  political  writer. — 
"  Germany  and  Europe." — "  History  of  Serfdom." — Consequent 
troubles. — Change  in  Constitution  of  Riigen  and  Pomerania  .         .     106 

CHAPTER  VI.— Sweden. 

Visit  to  Sweden. — Death  of  his  mother. — The  Pomeranian  Landtag. 
— "Geist  der^eit." — Escape  to  Sweden. — Swedish  Revolution. — 
Adventurous  return  to  Pomerania  .        .         .         .        .         '131 


xviii  Confejits. 


CHAPTER  VII.— Greifswald. 

In  hiding  at  home  and  in  Berlin. — Reinstated  in  Greifswald. — Resigns 
his  Professorship. — Escapes  to  Berlin. — On  to  Breslau. — Bliicher. 
— Scharnhorst. — Leaves  for  Prague       .         .         .         ,         .         'IS' 

CHAPTER  VIII.— Journey  to  Russia. 

Leaves  Prague. — A  Viennese  Smuggler. — With  the  Russian  Am- 
bassador's suite. —  Smolensk. — Moscow. — Count  Rostopchin. — 
Novgorod. — St.  Petersburg 172 

CHAPTER  IX. -Life  in  St,  Petersburg. 

Stein,  and  his  influence  in  St.  Petersburg. — The  burning  of  Moscow. 
— Amdt's  position  and  employments. — A  rare  bird. — The  Russian 
character        ...........     19^ 

CHAPTER  X.— Return  to  Germany. 

Death  of  Chazot. — Horrible  scenes  in  Wilna. — Konigsberg. — En- 
thusiasm.— Landwehr  and  Landsturm. — Song  of  the  German 
Fatherland. — Soldiers'  Catechism. — Leaves  Konigsberg  for  Kalisch     227 

CHAPTER  XL— The  War  of  Liberation. 

Dresden. — Korner's  house. — Arming  the  people. — The  Central  Ad- 
ministration.— Deaths  of  Kutasoff  and  Moreau. — Visit  to  Berlin 
and  Ritgen. — Death  of  Scharnhorst. — At  Reichenbach. — The 
armistice. — Leipzig  after  the  battle. — Follows  the  advance  of  the 
Allies  to  Frankfort. — Abdication  of  Napoleon      ....     260 


CHAPTER  XIL— After  the  War. 

The  Central  Administration  at  Frankfort. — A  visit  to  the  Upper 
Rhine  and  Strasburg. — Stein  at  Frankfort. — Hardenberg. — A  visit 
to  Nassau. — Fraulein  vom  Stein. — On  foot  to  Berlin. — The  Con- 
gress of  Vienna 299 

^         •  CHAPTER  XIIL— The  Year  181 5. 

Return  of  Napoleon. — Amdt  goes  to  the  Rhine. — Mutiny  of  the 
Saxon  troops. — Battle  of  Waterloo. —  Stein  and  Goethe  in  Cologne. 
— The  terms  of  peace. — The  "Watchman." — A  visit  to  Berlin, 
Riigen,  etc. — Sequel  to  the  "History  of  Serfdom."         .        .        .     324 

b2 


Contents.  xix 


CHAPTER  XIV.— Professor  at  Bonn. 

Schmalz's  pamphlet. — Arndt  made  Professor  at  Bonn. — Second  mar- 
riage.—Fourth  part  of  the  "Spirit  of  the  Age." — Opening  of  the 
university. — Building  of  his  house. — Birth  of  Siegrich     ...  2 

CHAPTER  XV.— Gathering  of  the  Storm. 

The  Burschenschaft. — Festival  of  Wartburg. — Royal  reprimand. — 
Murder  of  Kotzebue. — Arrest  of  Arndt. — Seizure  of  his  papers. — 
Articles  in  the  "  Allgemeine  Statszeitung  "    .....     369 

CHAPTER  XVI.— Trial. 
Suspension. — Carlsbad  Resolutions. — Court  at  Mainz. — Examination      384 

CHAPTER  XVII.— During  his  Suspension. 

Home  Life. — Intercession  of  Stein. — "  The  Question  of  the  Nether- 
lands."— Death  of  Stein  and  Niebuhr.— Death  of  Wilibald. — 
"  Recollections." — Restoration 401 

CHAPTER  XVIII.— The  Frankfort  Parliament. 
Dahlmann. — French  Revolution. — Parliament  at  Frankfort. — Amdt's 
Election. — At  Frankfort. — Correspondence  with  King  of  Prussia. 
— Arndt  goes  to  Berlin  with  offer  of  the  Crown  to  King. — Break-up 
of  the  Parliament 418 

CHAPTER  XIX.— Last  Years. 
Returns  to  Bonn.— Resigns  his  Professorship.  — "  Pro   populo  Ger- 
manico." — Marriage  of  his  daughter. — Tercentenary  of  University 
of     Greifswald.— Poems.— 90th    Birthday.— Death   and    Funeral. 
— Monument 44° 


LIFE  OF   E.    M.   ARNDT. 


CHAPTER   I. 

CHILDHOOD. 
Life  at  Schoritz  and  Dumsewitz. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  the  year   1769,  the   day  after 
Christmas  Day,  that  I  first  saw  the  light  of  this  world. 
And  indeed,  I  may  say  that  I  was  well-born,  high-born, 
and  born  under  good  auspices.     Well-born,  for  I  came 
into  the  world  so  strong  and  healthy  that  I  could  run 
alone  at  nine  months  old — an  example  which  some  of 
my  sons  have  followed.     High-born,  for  my  birth-place 
was  a  house  of  very  aristocratic  appearance,  newly-built 
and  handsome,  and  approached  by  a  magnificent  flight 
of  stone  steps.     Its  hall  and  rooms  were  adorned  with 
stories  from  the  Greek  mythology,  in  which  all  Olympus 
appeared,  headed  by  Jupiter  and  Juno  with  their  eagle 
and  peacock.     Born  under  good  auspices,  for  faith  and 
superstition  alike  attribute  to  a  child  born  during  one  of 
the  great  feasts,  gifts  of  a  wonderful  kind  ;  such  as  the 
power  of  telling  fortunes  and  seeing  ghosts. 

I 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769—80. 


re      <    t 


My   mother  however,    as  a  good    Christian,   did   not 
attach  any  importance  to  such  omens.     Yet  she  battled 
gallantly  for  the  significant  name  of  Ernst,  against  my 
father,  who  would   have  preferred   to  name  me  Philip, 
after   my   godfather,    and    she   conquered,    as   in    such 
combats  ladies  generally  do.     Seriously  speaking,  how- 
ever, truth  forces  me  to  confess  that  I  sprang  from  a 
very  lowly  stock,  and  that  my  father,  like  the  father  of 
Horace,  was  nothing  more  than  a  freedman.     His  name 
was  Ludwig  Nikolaus  Arndt,  and   at  the  time  of  my 
birth   he   was   the   steward   of    the   so-called    Schoritz 
estates.     My  mother  was  Friederike  Wilhelmine  Schu- 
macher.     ]\Iy  birthplace,  Schoritz,*  w^as  the  most  im- 
portant place  on  the  property,  which  consisted  of  half  a 
dozen  farms,  large  and  small,  and  a  few  hamlets.     My 
father  was  a  kind  of  manager,  and  w^ent  by  the  name  of 
"Herr  Inspektor,"  while  his  underlings  were  dignified  with 
the  title  of  secretaries.     This  estate  and  a  great  part  of 
the  neighbouring  peninsula  of  Zudar  had  formerly  been 
a    fief    belonging    to    the    noble    family    of    the    Von 
Kahlden  of  Riigen.     About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  a  rich  Herr  von  Kahlden  built  a  fine  house  at 
Schoritz  ;  but  at  the  time  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  he  sold 
his  estate  to  General  Count  von  Lowen,    the  Swedish 
Governor   of    Pomerania    and    Riigen.      He    acquired 
instead    other    large  properties  in   Pomerania,   but    his 
circumstances  were  much  reduced  by  the  war  and  his 
own  mismanagement ;  and  now  at  Schoritz,  the  beautiful 

*  In  the  island  of  Riigen,  which,  together  M'ith  Swedish  Pomerania,  was 
made  Swedish  territory  by  the  Peace  of  Westphaha,  and  remained  so  until 
the  year  1815. 


^^T.  I— lo.]  A   Ghost. 


house  and  grounds  of  which  were  his  creation,  he  played 
the  part  which  superstition  commonly  assigns  to  those 
who  have  suffered  great  and  heavy  misfortunes,  and  it 
was  through  him  I  first  learned  to  know  the  hot  and 
cold  sensations  of  ghostly  fear.     For,  nightly,   clad  in 
a  grey  dressing-gown  and  white  night-cap,  with  a  pair 
of  pistols  under  his  arm,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  making 
the  round  of  his  former  domain,  passing  slowly  between 
the  two  barns  over  the  causeway  which  led  to  the  house 
into  the  subterranean  regions  and  cellars,  and  gliding 
out  through  the  garden-door,  examining  the  bee-hives, 
and  then  vanishing.     This  was  the  principal  ghost ;  but 
there  was  another  terror  with  which  the  wonder-loving 
servant-folk   used  to   excite    our   young   imaginations  ; 
namely,  a  pair  of  huge  golden  water-snakes,  who  were 
said  to  live  in  the  great  pond  behind  the  barn,  and  were 
accused  of  sucking  the  cows. 

General  von  Lowen  had  sold  the  estate  to  Count 
Make  Putbus,  who  was  a  member  of  one  of  the  principal 
and  oldest  noble  houses  of  the  whole  Swedish-Pome- 
ranian district;  indeed,  some  said  he  was  descended  from 
the  old  reigning  family  of  the  island.  He  was  Here- 
ditary-Marshal of  the  Principality  of  Rugen,  and 
President  of  the  Province  of  Stralsund. 

My  father,  born  in  the  year  1740,  was  one  of  the 
younger  members  of  a  large  family.  He  was  the  son  of 
a  shepherd,  a  serf  on  the  estate  of  Putbus  and  Darsband, 
The  father  of  this  shepherd,  according  to  a  family 
tradition,  was  a  Swede  by  birth,  who,  coming  into  the 
country  as  a  subordinate  officer  in  the  Swedish  army, 
had  married  the  daughter  of  a  p'easant  of  Putbus. 

I — 2 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769—80. 


My  father  was  kept  steadily  to  school,  for  the 
shepherd  was  in  tolerably  easy  circumstances  for  one  in 
his  position,  and  he  was  helped  in  his  youth  by  his 
elder  brother,  Hinrich,  who  was  much  his  senior,  and 
who  had  accumulated  a  little  property.  He  enjoyed  the 
instructions  of  Jahn,  schoolmaster  and  clerk  of  Vilmnitz, 
near  Putbus,  a  fine  old  man  whom  I  can  remember  in  my 
childhood,  and  who  was  reckoned  an  excellent  organist 
and  arithmetic  master.  In  this  school  my  father  learnt 
to  write  well  and  to  be  quick  at  figures  ;  so  that  his 
master,  the  Count,  made  him  his  "  forest  ranger,"  as  they 
used  to  call  it  in  Riigen  ;  and  as  he  was  a  fine  active  lad, 
he  took  him  with  him  on  journeys  and  made  use  of  him 
in  business.  Then  the  Seven  Years'  War  broke  out,  and 
the  Count  obtained  a  post  in  the  Swedish  army,  which 
crossed  the  seas  to  join  the  many  enemies  of  Frederick 
the  Great.  The  Count,  aware  of  the  capabilities  and 
integrity  of  the  young  man,  not  only  employed  him  as 
his  secretary,  but  sent  him  on  many  dangerous  and 
critical  expeditions,  such  as  fetching  money  from  Ham- 
burg. Later,  he  took  him  with  him  on  several  journeys 
to  Stockholm.  My  father's  life  was  spent  in  this 
manner  from  his  eighteenth  to  his  twenty-fifth  year,  and 
it  was  an  excellent  school  for  him.  From  residence  in 
great  cities,  and  intercourse  with  foreigners,  though  only 
as  a  servant,  he  acquired  the  manners  of  an  educated 
man.  In  the  first  years  of  his  service  he  obtained  such 
favour  with  his  master  that  he  emancipated  him,  and 
employed  him  when  at  home  in  Putbus,  as  steward  and 
secretary,  until  he  made  him  inspector  of  the  Schoritz 
property.  ' 


JET.  I— lo.]  Schoritz. 


My  mother,  born  in  the  year  174S,  was  the  daughter 
of  a  village  innkeeper  and  small  landowner,  in  the 
parish  of  Lanken,  nearly  a  mile*  from  Putbus.  She 
also  had  received  a  better  education  than  might  have 
been  expected  from  the  position  of  her  parents,  having 
been  taught  with  the  children  of  a  rich  farmer  named 
Bukert,  at  Garftitz,  near  Lanken.  There  she  learned  the 
rudiments  of  many  things  that  were  unusual  at  that 
time,  so  that  she  was  considered  an  educated  woman. 
She  belonged  to  a  family  remarkable  for  their  intellectual 
gifts,  and  especially  for  their  talents  in  harp-playing, 
singing,  and  painting.  But  she  was  the  crown  of  all — 
earnest,  pious,  thoughtful,  and  fearless.  She  never  lost 
her  calmness  and  presence  of  mind  in  any  misfortunes. 
I  see  her  still,  with  her  beautiful  large  blue  eyes,  and  her 
broad  massive  forehead,  as  if  she  were  yet  in  bodily 
presence  before  me. 

Schoritz  was  a  pretty  spot,  lying  on  the  shores  of  a 
bay  which  nearly  separates  the  peninsula  of  Zudar  from 
the  rest  of  the  island.  The  house  was  new  and  hand- 
some, and  there  was  a  large  flower-garden  and  several 
orchards.  Close  by  was  a  little  headland,  which  was 
often  turned  into  an  island  by  high  tides  in  stormy 
weather.  It  was  planted  with  birches  and  oaks,  and  we 
used  to  play  there  in  summer-time.  The  farm  was 
bounded  towards  the  east  by  a  splendid  oak  wood,  in 
which  thousands  of  rooks  had  their  nests.  A  little 
farther  on  was  the  great  wood  of  Krewe.  I  have 
pleasant  recollections  of  those  early  days ;  and  among 
them,  especially,  of  the  many  nice  things  brought  us 
*  The  German  mile,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  about  3  j^j  English  ones. 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769— So, 


almost  every  week  by  two  people.  The  first  was  my 
uncle  and  godfather,  Moritz  Schumacher,  then  bailiff  of 
the  farm  at  Putbus.  He  never  went  to  Stralsund  or 
Greifswald  without  stopping  to  see  us  by  the  way,  and 
shaking  goodies,  sweets  or  something  nice  out  of  his 
pocket.  The  other  was  an  old  Prussian  captain,  Von 
Wotke,  from  East  Pomerania,  who  lived  with  his  grey- 
haired  wife  about  half  an  hour's  walk  from  us.  at 
Silmnitz,  the  next  estate  to  Schoritz.  The  cheerful  face 
of  this  old  man  still  lingers  in  my  memory,  as  he  used 
to  come  in,  almost  every  evening,  to  play  cards  or 
draughts  with  my  father.  But  we  children  liked  it  best 
when  my  father  was  not  at  home,  for  then  the  old  man 
w'ould  take  me  and  my  brother  Karl  on  his  knees,  and 
tell  us  stories  of  wars  and  fighting,  and  wonderful  ad- 
ventures, to  which  we  listened  with  indescribable  plea- 
sure. On  Sundays  his  wife  came  with  him,  in  full  dress, 
according  to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  and  then,  too,  the 
old  man  was  generally  in  uniform,  with  a  powdered 
peruke,  rapier,  and  silver  spurs.  On  such  gala  days, 
and  especially  at  the  high  festivals,  he  made  us  children 
handsome  presents.  And  now,  though  sixty  years  have 
passed  since  then,  his  form  still  comes  back  to  me  as 
that  of  a  mild  and  beneficent  angel.  For  the  good  old 
man  was  also  an  angel  of  peace,  and  often  saved  me 
and  my  brother  Karl  from  well-merited  punishment. 

So  we  played  through  our  first  years  in  Schoritz.  But 
in  the  year  1775  or  1776  Inspector  Arndt  removed  to 
a  little  distance  from  Schoritz,  and  became  his  own 
master.  The  Count  let  out  the  estate  among  several 
tenants,  and   my  father  became  tenant  of   Dumsevitz 


JET.  I — lo.]  Dtimsevitz. 


and  Ubechel.  Neither  he  nor  my  mother  had  sufficient 
capital  for  the  undertaking.  Friends  in  Stralsund,  whose 
confidence  he  had  merited,  advanced  him  the  necessar}' 
sum. 

We  lived  at  Dumsevitz  for  five  or  six  years,  I  think 
until  1780.  We  were,  on  our  arrival,  a  team  of  four,  all 
boys,  and  to  these  were  soon  after  added  a  girl  and 
another  boy,  so  the  half-dozen  was  made  up  at  Dum- 
sevitz, which  was  subsequently  further  increased  by  the 
arrival  of  two  more  sisters. 

There  passed  the  years  of  opening  childhood,  and  most 
charming  idyllic  pictures  of  them  are  engraven  on  my 
memory ;  indeed,  I  think  these  were  the  happiest  years 
of  my  life.  As  for  external  circumstances  we  had  cer- 
tainly descended  from  a  palace  to  a  hovel.  Dumsevitz 
was  an  ugly  farm,  which  seemed  to  have  grown  up  by 
accident,  with  a  new  but  inferior  house.  Yet  it  was  sur- 
rounded by  pretty  meadows,  and  two  very  rich  orchards, 
and  the  meadows  were  full  of  hillocks,  bushes,  ponds, 
and  Hiinengrdbcr,^  all  in  the  romantic  disorder  of  a  verj- 
imperfect  and  primitive  agriculture.  To  quote  Goethe, 
"  Nature,  thank  Heaven,  had  not  yet  been  made  neat !" 
Its  solitudes  were  merry  with  birds,  fish,  and  game  ;  and 
many  an  excursion  did  we  make,  following  my  father 
and  his  dogs.  We  had  plenty  to  enjoy  there,  but  we 
were  still  equally  at  home  at  Schoritz,  where  we  had 
many  dear  friends,  and  at  the  neighbouring  Silmnitz, 
where  Uncle  Moritz  Schumacher  had  settled  ;  for  we 
always   met  every  week  and   often  almost    every  day. 

*  Literally,  the  graves  of  the  Huns,  or  giants  ;  tumuli  closely  resembling 
the  cairns  of  Scotland  and  dolmens  of  Brittany. 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769—80. 


Our  meeting-place  generally  was  the  wood  of  Krewe,  of 
which  part  belonged  to  Dumsevitz,  where  we  children 
spent  our  time  sometimes  in  such  friendly  amusements 
as  trapping  and  catching  birds,  and  sometimes  in  quar- 
relling. 

We  led,  on  the  whole,  a  happy  life.  It  was  the 
time  of  quiet,  lasting  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  years, 
after  the  Seven  Years'  War,  when  people,  feeling  par- 
ticularly comfortable  and  well-off,  allowed  the  children 
to  take  part  in  all  their  festivities,  social  meetings,  and 
visits  to  distant  friends.  But  best  of  all,  we  Avere  not 
plagued  with  early  lessons ;  but  w^ere  allowed  to  play 
through  our  years  at  Dumsevitz  as  we  had  done  the  pre- 
ceding ones. 

There  was  good  reason  for  this.  It  was  from 
no  w^ant  of  will  on  the  part  of  my  parents,  but  from 
their  narrow  circumstances.  There  was  no  school  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  to  have  a  really  educated  man  as 
tutor  would  have  been  too  expensive  for  them.  Once, 
indeed,  a  tutor  made  his  appearance — a  superannuated 
candidate,  the  son  of  a  schoolmaster  in  the  town  of 
Bergen,  by  name  Herr  Krai.  It  is  still  with  a  shudder 
that  I  recall  this  Crozv.  He  had  often  visited  us  before 
with  our  worthy  friend  Pastor  Kriiger,  of  Swantow,  and 
many  a  time  we  had  laughed  at  his  strange  buttoned-up 
coat  and  yellow  peruke.  He  was  a  tall,  thin,  sour-look- 
ing man,  with  a  monstrous  nose,  and  deep-set  black  eyes. 
What  a  fright  we  were  in  when  he  took  up  his  abode 
with  us  and  summoned  us  to  his  little  room.  The  wild 
birds  were  caught!  Our  alarm,  happily,  soon  had  an 
end.     In  about  a  week,  to  our  great  joy,  he  left  the 


JET.  I — lo.]  ScJiool  at  Home. 


house ;  explaining  his  reasons  in  a  letter  to  my  father. 
He  could  not  stay  in  a  house  where  so  little  respect  was 
shown  to  the  children's  instructor.  My  aunt  Sofie  had 
scarcely  vouchsafed  to  courtesy  to  him,  and  my  mother 
had  called  him  "  dear  Krai,"  instead  of  "  Herr  Krai,"  as 
was  his  due  ! 

However,  we  were  not  left  to  run  quite  wild,  but 
for  children  of  from  six  to  ten,  I  think  we  were  well 
taught.  My  elder  brother,  Karl — I  was  the  second 
— was  sent  for  a  couple  of  years  to  Stralsund,  where  he 
lived  in  the  house  of  my  mother's  eldest  brother,  Fried- 
rich  Schumacher,  and  went  daily  to  school.  I  remember 
well  how  astonished  and  startled  we  were,  and  how  we 
teased  him,  when  he  came  home  at  the  end  of  the  half- 
year,  and  would  not  at  first  speak  to  us  except  in  High 
German.  For  we  were  not  used  to  High  German, 
except  in  books,  or  from  the  pulpit,  or  on  festive 
occasions,  in  bidding  visitors  welcome.  VVe,  however, 
were  not  long  behind  him  ;  that  is,  myself  and  my 
brother  Fritz,  the  third  in  the  family.  For  our  parents 
kept  school  at  home,  during  the  autumn  and  winter, 
when  they  had  most  leisure.  My  father  taught  us  writ- 
ing and  arithmetic,  and  my  mother  gave  us  reading 
lessons,  and  aroused  our  j^oung  imaginations  with  stories 
and  fairy  tales,  which  she  told  with  great  grace.  For  the 
first  few  years  we  read  scarcely  anything  but  the  Bible 
and  hymn-book,  and  I  should  say,  so  much  the  better. 

She  was  a  pious  woman,  and  a  great  reader  of  the 
Bible.  I  think  I  read  it  through  with  her  three  or  four 
times.  We  were  also  kept  close  to  the  hymn-book,  and 
every  Saturday  afternoon  she  made  us  learn  by  heart 


lo  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769—80. 


either  a  selected  hymn  or  the  Gospel  for  the  Sunday, 
As  she  was  a  kind,  gentle  schoolmistress,  we  did  our 
work  gladly  and  with  great  profit.  She  always  seemed 
to  have  more  leisure  time  than  other  people,  in  spite  of 
her  delicate  health,  her  wild  little  troop  of  children,  and 
her  large  household,  which  had  to  be  managed  with 
economy.  Long  after  all  others  were  buried  in  sleep, 
she  would  sit  up  reading  a  religious  or  amusing  book. 
She  seldom  went  to  bed  before  midnight,  and  was  up 
again  with  the  sun,  even  in  summer-time.  As  I  partook 
also  of  this  oivlish  nature,  and  even  in  childhood  needed 
so  little  sleep  that  I  was  called  the  lark,  I  used  in  those 
childish  days,  and  also  in  later  years,  to  sit  up  talking 
and  reading  with  her  through  the  witching  time  of 
night. 

At  that  time  the  Christian  faith  reigned  undisturbed, 
at  least,  in  the  island  of  Rugen ;  and  my  good  parents 
and  Aunt  Sofie,  my  mother's  youngest  sister,  who  lived 
with  us,  were  really  devout  people.  They  had  an  ex- 
cellent pastor  and  preacher  in  Herr  Stenzler,  of  Garz, 
grandfather  of  Professor  Stenzler,  of  Breslau.  Attend- 
ance at  church  was  never  neglected,  except  for  the  most 
valid  reasons.  In  bad  weather  they  used  to  drive  to 
church,  and  in  summer  and  fine  weather  walked  ;  when 
my  father  would  take  us  elder  boys  with  him.  Neither 
were  we  ever  allowed  to  be  absent  from  the  catechising 
at  afternoon  church.  If  our  father  did  not  go  with  us, 
we  were  put  under  the  care  of  an  old  servant,  a  good, 
Bible-reading  man,  Jacob  Nimmo,  who  was  my  especial 
friend.  I,  as  a  little  ten-year-old  boy,  had  a  very  good 
memory  and  great  eagerness,  and  was  well  read  in  the 


,:et.  I— io.]  JVork  and  Play.  II 

Holy  Scriptures.  I  soon  rose  from  the  place  assigned 
me  by  the  pastor  to  the  highest,  and  had  a  number  of 
much  bigger  boys  and  girls  below  me,  among  them  my 
elder  brother  Karl,  and  two  tall  young  ladies  with 
mighty  erections  of  hair,  a  Von  Lanken  and  a  Von 
Barnekow.  I  had  plenty  of  confidence  in  speaking  out 
and  reading  aloud,  and  however  shy  I  might  be  else- 
where, there  I  spoke  out  like  a  trumpet,  and  faithful  old 
Jacob  gloried  in  my  honours  as  if  they  had  been  his 
own,  and  went  home  with  me  triumphant. 

In  spring  and  summer  we  were  not  left  wholly  without 
teaching,  though  perhaps  we  learnt  most  while  playing 
in  the  fields  and  woods,  in  the  meadows  and  moorlands, 
and  among  the  birds  and  flowers.  But  our  father  did 
not  let  us  run  quite  wild,  and  do  exactly  as  we  liked,  but 
took  care  that  in  our  rambles  we  should  always  have 
some  object  and  employment.  At  times,  when  all  hands 
were  needed  to  work  on  the  land — such  as  sowing-time 
and  harvest,  especially  the  latter — we  elder  boys  were 
obliged  to  work  to  the  utmost  of  our  power.  Sometimes 
I  became  a  capital  swineherd  or  cow-boy.  My  brother 
Karl,  who  really  ought  to  have  had  the  contested  name 
of  Philip,  Avas  turned  into  a  horse-keeper.  I  was  much 
praised  for  my  carefulness  and  conscientiousness,  and  I 
remember  many  a  beautiful  evening  joyfully  driving  my 
cows  into  the  yard,  and  then  in  the  twilight  clambering 
up  into  an  apple  or  cherry  tree,  where  I  knew  sweet 
paj'ment  awaited  me.  But  generally  good  Aunt  Sofie 
had  laid  by  a  store  for  me.  Of  course  we  country  boys 
used  to  chase  the  foals  and  calves,  geese,  poultry  and 
pigeons,  a  good  deal.     One  of  our  special  amusements. 


12  Life  of  Arndt.  [a. d.  1769— 80. 

and  one  which  I  in  my  thoughtlessness  delighted  in  more 
than  the  others,  Avas  to  chase  the  poultry  out  of 
the  granaries  of  the  old  house,  from  among  the  heaps  of 
corn,  chaff,  and  flax,  surrounding  them  so  that  they 
could  not  flutter  down  the  steps  by  which  they  had  got 
up,  but  were  obliged  to  fly  through  the  holes  in  the  roof, 
high  up  in  the  air,  over  the  garden.  One  day,  as  I 
was  going  through  the  potato  field  into  the  garden, 
what  should  I  see  but  a  dead  hen,  with  its  foot 
entangled  in  a  cord  from  a  potato  plant.  I  was  struck 
with  horror  at  the  sight.  Perhaps  it  was  one  of  the  hens 
we  had  so  often  amused  ourselves  with  chasing,  which,  in 
fluttering  wildly  about  had  twisted  its  claw  in  some  tow, 
which  had  then  caught  on  a  potato  stalk,  and  thus  it  had 
died  miserably  of  hunger.  For  many  a  night  the  dead 
hen  would  let  me  have  no  rest ;  its  figure  was  con- 
tinually before  my  eyes  like  a  reproachful  spirit,  I 
never  hunted  again  in  the  hay-lofts.* 

Our  ordinary  domestic  life  was  of  course  coloured  by 
the  manners  of  the  times,  family  circumstances,  and  our 
parents'  characters.  Manners  then  Avere  both  strict  and 
ceremonious  ;  and  while  parents  and  teachers  were  really 
kind-hearted  and  good-natured,  still  they  knew  how  to 
keep  children  and  servants  in  their  proper  places.  There 
was  then  as  much  striving  after  elegance  and  superior 
manners  in  the  lower  classes  as  there  is  slovenliness  and 
laxity  now.  Lty  father  was  at  once  warm-tempered  and 
kind-hearted,  hasty  and  gentle,  and  kept  us  hard  at  work 
enough  out  of  doors  ;  at  home  he  left  us,  as  was  natural 
at  our  age,  almost  wholly  to  our  mother.     JMy  mother 

*  "  Eiinnerungen  Gesichte  Geschichten." 


^^x.  I— 10.]  Hai'dly  hrougJit  up.  13 

was  of  a  grave  and  peaceful  disposition,  caring  little  for 
show  and  pleasure,  indeed,  having  little  need  of  them. 
This  woman,  who  fulfilled  her  worldly  duties  with 
such  zealous  care,  lived  almost  independent  of  earthly- 
sustenance.  Wine,  coffee,  or  tea  scarcely  ever  passed 
her  lips ;  she  seldom  tasted  meat,  but  lived  almost 
wholly  on  bread,  butter,  milk,  and  fruit.  The  children 
were  also  fed  in  the  same  temperate  manner,  and  indeed, 
w^e  elder  boys  had  almost  a  hard  bringing  up.  We 
were  allowed  no  luxuries  in  clothes.  If  there  were 
anything  to  be  arranged  with  a  neighbour  or  friend 
who  lived  miles  off,  my  father  wrote  the  note,  the  quiet 
pony  was  saddled,  a  boy  was  put  on  it  without  cloak 
or  overcoat,  and  in  sunshine,  rain,  or  snow  had  to  gallop 
away  on  his  errand. 

As  my  father  was  still  young  and  strong,  he  felt  no 
sympathy  with  our  love  of  comfort.  If  he  went  in 
winter-time  on  a  distant  visit  to  relations  or  friends,  in  a 
jingling  one-horse  sledge,  the  elder  boys  hung  on  at  the 
back  or  sides,  and  if  it  was  freezing,  ran  by  the  side  to 
keep  themselves  warm.  I  remember  once,  when  about 
nine  or  ten  years  old,  lying  sleeping  one  evening  in  a 
strange  room  while  the  men  were  playing  at  cards  ;  how 
about  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock,  my  father  waked  me  and 
made  me  get  into  the  sledge,  heavy  with  sleep,  and  then 
for  a  joke  several  times  overturned  it,  so  that  I  rolled  in 
the  snow  ;  and  how  when  we  came  to  any  enclosures  I 
was  obliged  to  be  ready  to  jump  out  and  open  the  gates. 
Woe  to  me  if  I  had  made  a  wry  face  on  turning  out  into 
the  snow.  As  to  wounds,  bruises  and  injuries  to  body 
or  clothes  and  such  troubles,  if  a  boy  had  brought  them 


14  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769—80. 

on  himself  unnecessarily  or  wilfully,  he  had  better  try  to 
hide  them  from  his  father's  eyes,  rather  than  expect  help 
or  sympathy  from  him.  If  they  did  accidentally  come 
under  notice,  however  much  he  might  have  hurt  himself, 
his  wilfulness  and  carelessness  were  duly  punished.  Bad 
falls  from  trees  or  horses,  tumbling  into  the  water,  and 
under  the  ice,  and  being  fished  out  again,  such  were  daily 
occurrences.  I  remember  one  day,  when  Uncle  Schu- 
macher from  Stralsund,  and  Pastor  Stenzler,  with  some 
ladies,  were  with  us^  and  we  children  had  on  our  Sunday 
best,  falling  through  the  ice  on  the  pond  near  the 
bleaching-ground.  I  had  already  gone  down  once  when 
my  brother  Karl  caught  me  by  the  hair  and  dragged  me 
out.  I  went  into  the  kitchen  in  my  dripping  clothes, 
and  dried  the  outside  by  the  hot  fire.  In  this  condition, 
when  it  got  dark,  I  had  to  appear  in  the  sitting-room. 
The  men  were  playing  at  ombre,  the  ladies  were  sitting 
round  the  tea-table,  and  one  of  them  was  reading  aloud 
from  "  Siegwart."  I  stood,  shy  and  miserable,  without 
any  one  taking  any  notice  of  me,  in  the  dark  chimney 
corner,  as  far  as  possible  from  the  light,  sometimes  look- 
ing at  the  pictures  in  the  novel,  over  the  lady's  shoulder, 
while  I  was  trembling  all  over,  and  my  teeth  chattering 
with  cold.  But  kind  Aunt  Sofie  came  to  the  rescue. 
She  accidentally  discovered  my  wet  coat,  and  taking  me 
into  the  next  room,  listened  to  the  whole  of  my  watery 
adventure,  and  had  compassion  on  my  misery.  Quick 
as  thought  I  was  undressed,  slipped  into  a  warm  shirt 
and  tucked  up  in  bed.  My  wet  clothes  were  dried  and 
smoothed  out,  and  the  next  morning  I  appeared  in 
company  tidy  and  comfortable.     My  aunt  had  excused 


^T.  I— lo.]  My  Father.  15 


my  sudden  disappearance  under  the  plea  of  tooth-ache, 
from  which  I  suffered  much  when  a  child, 

I  have  already  said,  that  at  that  time  every  one  aimed 
at  a  certain  elegance  and  superiority  of  manner.  This 
ambition  ran  through  all  classes,  almost  to  the  very 
lowest.  My  father  was  the  son  of  a  shepherd,  a  freed- 
man  who  had  served  a  noble  master,  and  through 
favourable  circumstances  had  raised  himself  a  little 
above  his  station.  He  was  a  fine,  stately  man  ;  and  by 
travelling  and  intercourse  with  educated  men  had 
attained  as  much  culture  as  it  was  possible  for  one  of 
the  untaught  classes  to  attain  to  in  Germany  in  those 
days.  He  was  superior  to  most  in  good  sense  and  energy, 
and  in  many  respects  cleverer  ;  e.g.,  he  wrote  German 
better  than  most  of  the  magistrates  and  generals  of 
those  times.  In  short,  he  was  a  handsome,  agreeable 
man,  at  least  as  men  went  in  the  district  of  Rugen,  and 
associated  with  the  clergy,  officials,  and  petty  nobility  of 
the  neighbourhood. 

Money  being  very  scarce,  but  everything  else  ex- 
tremely plentiful,  people  adopted  the  hearty  northern 
hospitality,  and  our  district,  where  we  had  been  ac- 
customed to  Swedish  manners  for  a  century  and  a  half, 
became,  perhaps,  the  most  hospitable  in  all  North 
Germany.  Intercourse  in  business,  amusements,  or  the 
chase,  was  always  carried  on  in  the  most  friendly 
manner, 

Herr  Stenzler  and  Herr  KriAger  among  the  clergy- 
men, some  of  the  Von  Kahlden  from  Zudar,  and  a  Von 
der  Lanken  among  the  neighbouring  nobility,  were 
often   at   our   house.      My   good    angel,    Captain    von 


i6  Life  Of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769—80, 


Wotke,  had,  unfortunately,  returned  to  East  Pomeranian 

Kassubie. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Ludwig  Arndt's  boys 
were  nothing  but  farmers'  sons,  poor  little  urchins,  who 
had  to  make  their  bows  to  the  gentry  in  home-made 
jackets  and  trousers,  and  well-patched  boots.  But  all 
the  same,  the  bows  must  be  made.  At  ordinary  times, 
it  was  simple  enough ;  but  on  festive  occasions,  holidays, 
weddings,  and  such  like,  what  ceremonies  there  were 
even  among  such  humble  people  as  mine ! 

I  am  speaking  of  the  years  between  1770  and  1780. 
On  such  occasions,  in  the  house  of  a  well-to-do  farmer, 
or  pastor,  there  was  as  much  ceremony  and  etiquette  as 

in  that  of  a  baron  or  a   Herr   Major  von ,  only 

stiffer  and  more  awkward  and  therefore  more  laughable 
and  absurd.  There  were  only  two  styles,  the  "  peruke 
style,"  and  the  foreign  highly  ornamental  style,  hypo- 
critical and  Jesuitical,  which  lasted  from  Louis  XIV.  to 
the  French  Revolution.  I  smile  now  when  I  recall  the 
toilettes  of  those  days,  and  how  the  pastors'  and  farmers' 
plump  wives  and  daughters  sailed  slowly  and  ceremoni- 
ously to  greet  one  another,  with  clumsy  ungraceful 
bends  and  curtsies — with  great  pockets  slung  round 
their  waists,  thickly  powdered  hair,  often  false,  built  up 
in  three  stories,  and  tripping  unsteadily  with  their  feet 
pinched,  in  Chinese  fashion,  into  little  high-heeled  shoes. 
The  men  were  just  as  stiff,  but  rather  more  sensible. 
With  them  the  Seven  Years'  War  had  a  little  broken 
down  this  foreign  taste,  and  they  were  comic  representa- 
tions of  Frederick  the  Great  and  his  heroes.  They 
wore  great  boots  up  to  the  knee,  with  silver  spurs,  above 


yET.  I  — lo.]  Etiquette.  17 

which  appeared   white  breeches,  and  they  carried  long 
Spanish  gold-headed  canes,  while   on   the   top   of  their 
stiffly-waxed  and  pomaded  locks  and  long  pig-tails  they 
wore  large  three-cornered  hats.     Still  there  was  some- 
thing  manly  in  all  this.     And  the  children  .''     Even  those 
insignificant  little   creatures  had   to  undergo  the   same 
treatment.     Oh,  such  festivities  were  a  fearful   martyr- 
dom.    A  whole  hour  was  often   consumed  in  stiffening 
the  queue,  building  up  and  polishing  the  toupee  and  curls 
with  wax,  pomade,  hair-pins,  and  powder  ;  so  that  it  often 
happened  that  when    three  or  four  of  us  had  to  be  got 
ready  in  a  hurry,  tears  would  flow  freely.     And  when  at 
last  the  poor  boys  were  ready  to  join  the  company,  the 
round  of  the  room  had  to  be  made,  and  they  had  to 
greet  each  guest,  every  lady  and  every  gentleman,  with 
a  low  bow  and  to  kiss  the  offered  hand.     But  the  most 
ridiculous  part  of  this  imitation  or  caricature  of  elegant 
and  refined  intercourse,  was  the  use  of  High  German, 
which  at  that  time  was  considered,  arid  is  so  even   now, 
as    something    superior  and   uncommon,  because   there 
were  very  few  who  could  manage   to  speak  it  without 
tripping  over  the  dative  and  accusative  some  hundreds 
of  times  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.     Yet  to  speak  it  was 
an  absolute  necessity,  for  the  haut  ton  of  an  entertain- 
ment— at  least  for  the  first  five  or  ten  minutes.     It  was 
not  till  the  first  stress  of  politeness  was  over,  and  the 
embarrassment   caused    by  the   interchange   of  compli- 
ments had    evaporated  over  a  cup   of   coffee,   that  we 
might  descend  again  into  our  everyday  Platt-Deutsch, 

Scraps  of  French  were  thrown  in,  too,  every  now  and 
then,  and   I   remember  my  amusement   when  I   really 


1 8  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769— So. 


began  to  learn  that  language,  at  recognising  the  "fladrun" 

(flacon)   as  Friiulein  B used  to  call  her  water-bottle, 

and  the  "  Wun  Schur  "  (bon  jour)  and  "  a  la  Wundor  " 
(a  la  bonne  heure!),  and  similar  flourishes  with  which, 
on  their  rides,  the  huntsmen  and  farmers  used  to 
greet  one  another  when  they  wished  to  be  particularly- 
elegant. 

In  those  days  I  was  considered  an  honest,  obedient  and 
industrious  boy,  but  impatient,  headstrong  and  fond  of 
my  own  way.  My  brother  Karl  was  a  nimble,  clever 
and  amiable  urchin,  on  horseback  and  on  foot  the 
boldest  and  swiftest.  When  a  young  man  he  was  so 
swift  of  foot  that  he  never  met  his  match  in  a  race. 
Fritz,  two  years  younger  than  myself,  was  a  gentle, 
even-tempered,  and  thoughtful  child,  but  delicate  in 
health.  The  others  were  still  little.  I  was  shyer  and 
more  stubborn  than  the  other  two,  and  by  strangers 
may  well  have  been  ranked  below  them. 

Twice  at  Dumsevitz  I  was  in  great  danger  of  my  life, 
and  once  besides  gave  my  parents  much  anxiety.  This 
was  on  one  of  those  dewless  evenings  when  the  gathering- 
in  of  the  corn  goes  on  by  moonlight  as  late  as  ten  or 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.  Work  was  over,  men  and 
beasts  were  gone  home,  and  most  of  them  were  already 
in  bed  ;  but  lo !  when  they  came  to  count  the  children, 
my  little  person  was  missing.  For  half-an-hour  my 
absence  caused  little  surprise,  for  my  relations  were 
accustomed  to  my  habit  of  wandering  about  alone,  even 
in  the  dark.  But  at  last,  as  it  drew  towards  midnight, 
they  grew  more  anxious,  and  began  to  fear  that  I  might 
have  fallen  into  a  pond  or  have  got  run  over,  or  worse 


^T.  i-io.]  Lost!  19 

still,  that  I  might  have  fallen  asleep  on  the  straw  in  the 
barn,  and  being  covered  up  by  the  sheaves  as  they  were 
rapidly  thrown  in,  might  have  been  silently  stifled. 
Every  one  ran  about  searching  for  me.  At  last  it 
occurred  to  my  aunt  Sofie,  that  the  evening  before, 
when  the  women  were  binding  the  sheaves  near  the 
village  of  Preseke,  she  had  seen  me  going  along  the 
sea-shore  in  the  moonlight  and  sitting  for  a  long  time 
on  the  beach,  gazing  at  the  Pomeranian  shores  and  the 
charming  Vilm.  Perhaps  I  had  gone  thither  again  to 
enjoy  myself  in  my  own  way.  She  ran  and  searched 
behind  every  shrub  and  bush  far  along  the  shore  to  see 
if  I  was  there  hidden,  or  had  gone  to  sleep  ;  but  in  vain. 
After  a  long  and  fruitless  search,  her  loving  heart  gave 
vent  to  its  anxiety  in  cries  and  laments,  which  at  last 
reached  the  ears  of  the  sleeper,  who  came  creeping  up 
to  her  suddenly  like  a  ghost,  keeping  in  the  shadows, 
and  pointed  out  to  her  an  old  thorn-tree,  such  as  are 
scattered  here  and  there  over  the  fields  of  Riigen — very 
large  and  thick — under  which  he  had  lain  down  and 
gone  to  sleep.  She  dragged  me  home  as  fast  as  my 
legs  would  carry  me.  I  had  to  appear  before  my 
parents  as  a  culprit,  but  this  time  anxiety  had  softened 
their  anger,  and  I  escaped  with  a  slight  reproof. 

Twice  I  was  in  danger  of  my  life.  The  first  time  was 
when  I  fell  through  the  ice  and  was  dragged  out  by  my 
brother,  the  second  was  when  nothing  less  than  a  waggon- 
wheel  went  over  my  head.  I  had  gone  out  to  the  field 
on  a  four-horse  harvest-waggon  ;  but,  coming  back  with 
the  load,  I  climbed  up  behind  the  servant  on  one  of  the 
horses.     It  started,  and  I  fell  off.     The  wheel  of  the 

2 — 2 


20  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769— So. 

waggon  went  over  my  head  behind  the  ear,  so  that  the 
hair  and  skin  were  torn  off.  I  bled  profusely,  but  my 
skull  was  not  broken.  Probably  the  wheel  had  jumped 
over  a  stone,  and  thus  passed  lightly  over  my  head. 
There  is  no  other  way  of  accounting  for  it.  My  good 
aunt  washed  and  salved  the  wound,  so  that  it  was  not 
noticed  by  my  parents.  Not  till  it  was  healed  was  it  safe 
to  mention  the  incident  at  home.  Probably  there  were 
many  other  such  accidents,  but  they  have  been  long  for- 
gotten; and  these,  as  they  rise  in  my  memory,  bring  only 
pleasurable  sensations  with  them.  I  have  only  one  bitter 
recollection  of  those  times,  and  that  is  of  the  first  injustice 
which  was  ever  done  me,  and  which  long  rankled  in  my 
mind.  For  the  unjust  treatment  which  once  or  twice  I 
suffered  from  my  kind  father  was  only  according  to 
the  fashion  of  the  times,  and  consisted  merely  in  this 
— that  because  I  was  a  stubborn  little  fellow,  and 
would  not  weep  when  I  Avas  punished,  much  less  kiss 
hands  and  return  thanks  for  the  correction,  I  gener- 
ally received  twice  as  much  as  my  more  tearful  little 
brothers. 

It  was  the  autumn  fair  at  Gartz.  The  whole  family 
had  gone  to  dinner  with  Pastor  Stenzler,  and  in  the 
afternoon  were  sitting  over  their  coffee  with  the  widow  of 
Pastor  von  Brunst,  who  had  formerly  held  the  living  of 
Gartz.  There,  before  all  the  ladies  and  gentlemen,  when 
the  pastor  drew  me  forward  and  praised  me  as  an  indus- 
trious scholar,  out  of  the  circle  of  ladies  uprose  a  rosy 
young  damsel,  with  the  most  beautiful  black  patches  on 
her  cheeks,  and  her  head  fluttering  with  feathers  and  silk 
ribbons.     She  was  the  sister  of  Frau  Stenzler,  Mamsell 


^T.  I — lo.]  Falsely  Charged.  21 

Dittmar  from  Greifswald,  and  she  rose  to  make  a  formal 
complaint  against  me. 

The  ground  of  complaint  was  the  following :  Aly 
brother  Karl  and  I,  when  we  went  to  church  in  the 
morning,  used  sometimes  to  go  to  the  pastor's  house,  and 
were  often  kept  to  dinner  that  we  might  attend  the  cate- 
chising in  the  afternoon ;  and  the  rest  of  the  day  we 
spent  in  play  with  Lorenz  Stenzler  and  some  of  the  Von 
Kahlden  boys,  who  were  often  there.  We  used  to  ramble 
about  the  pastor's  garden,  and  on  the  castle  wall  of  Gartz, 
which  had  once  been  the  heathen  fortress  of  Carenza  ; 
and  even  as  far  as  the  little  wood  of  Rosengarten.  We 
passed  our  time  in  hunting  for  hen's  eggs  in  the  barns 
and  lofts,  birds-nesting  in  the  hedges  and  woods,  and 
looking  for  hedgehogs  and  reptiles  among  the  bushes, 
with  other  boyish  amusements,  together  with  much  rough 
play  and  heedless  rushing  about.  Some  days  before  the 
fair,  several  panes  of  glass  in  a  garden-frame  in  the 
pastor's  garden  had  been  found  broken,  and  the  tracks  of 
children's  feet  were  plainly  visible  close  by. 

This  was  the  subject  of  the  accusation,  and  the  rosy, 
black-patched  damsel  went  on :  "  There  is  no  doubt  who 
did  it ;  it  must  have  been  IMonsieur  Moritz,  who  ahvays 
goes  about  like  a  wild  colt,  leaping  over  the  bushes  and 
flowers," 

She  looked  straight  at  m.e,  so  that  the  attention  of 
those  even  to  whom  I  was  unknown  was  attracted  to 
me.  Even  my  parents  seemed  to  believe  it,  only  Aunt 
Sofie  cried  out  confidently,  "  No.  Moritz  certainly  did 
not  do  it  ;  he  is  wild,  but  he  ahvays  takes  care  not  to  do 
damage." 


22  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1769 — 80. 

]\Ioritz  however,  who  knew  well  who  the  glass-breakers 
were  (Brother  Karl  and  Lorenz  Stenzler  had  in  wrestling 
fallen  into  the  frame),  crept  out  of  the  room  like  a 
frightened  dog,  and  went  into  the  stables  to  the  coach- 
man, in  order  to  keep  out  of  the  way  till  it  was  time  to 
go  home.  In  the  evening  I  had  to  bear  fresh  threats 
and  scoldings,  and  I  could  do  nothing  but  assert  my 
innocence  without  betraying  the  real  criminals. 

This  happened,  I  think,  in  the  last  year  of  our  life  at 
Dumsevitz,  and  it  sank  deep  into  my  heart.  I  know  I 
was  never  to  be  got  into  the  room  when  Frau  Stenzler 
and  her  black-patched  sister  came  to  see  us,  but  used  to 
run  away  to  the  shepherd's  or  to  the  neighbouring 
cottages,  to  my  playfellow  Ludwig  Starkwolf,  and  stay 
there  till  I  thought  the  terrible  people  had  gone.  I  be- 
came shy  even  with  the  kindly,  reverend  pastor,  because 
I  thought  he  might  have  defended  me  from  the  charge 
which  embarrassed  even  my  good  parents. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CHILDHOOD — continued. 

Grabitz. — Tutors. — Family  Sketches. 

So  the  first  years  of  my  boyhood  passed  away  at  Dum- 
sevitz  near  Gartz.      In  the  year   1780,  if  I    remember 
right,  my  father  left  Dumsevitz  and  went  to  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  island,  about  a  mile  (German)  from 
Stralsund,  reckoning  in   the  sea  which  flows  between. 
He    took    two    estates    on    the    Sound,    Grabitz    and 
Breesen,  and  two  communal  districts  of  Giesendorf  and 
Gurvitz,    the   inhabitants    of   which  were  serfs.      There 
were  four  years  remaining  of  a  lease,  and  this  he  bought 
for    a    very    considerable    sum    from    a    Colonel    von 
Schla^enteufel.     The  father  of  this  colonel  had  become 
almost   a  mythical   personage  to  the  common  people. 
He  had  been  a  shepherd  like  my  grandfather  of  blessed 
memory,  but  one  fine  night  he  had  been  lucky  enough 
to  surprise  the  underground  people  at  their  moonlight 
dance,  and  had   snatched   off  one  of  the  Lilliputians' 
caps  and  bells,  in  which  their  whole  happiness  is  bound 
up.     The  little  people  had  been  obliged  to  redeem   it 
with  a  great  treasure,  with  which  he  had  bought  the 
estate  of  Grabitz  ;  and  this,  I  know  not  how,  passed  out 


24  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1780—86, 

of  his  hands  into  the  possession  of  the  Convent  of  St. 
Jiirgen  vor  Rambin. 

Anyhow,  the  shepherd  grew  suddenly  rich,  became 
possessor  of  a  pretty  estate,  and  finally  a  nobleman. 
His  sons  entered  the  service  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick, 
and  several  of  them  served  as  officers  in  the  Brunswick 
regiments,  employed  by  England  in  the  struggle  against 
North  American  independence.  Some  of  them,  among 
whom  was  the  Colonel,  afterwards  bought  themselves 
estates  in  Pomerania. 

With  one  of  these,  Major  von  Schlagenteufel,  is  con- 
nected an  incident  of  my  life  of  which  I  might  be  vain. 
When  he  returned  from  America,  he  visited  his  home 
and  birthplace,  Grabitz,  and  made  my  father  bring  out 
his  five  boys.  When  we  were  mustered  he  picked  me 
out,  and  said  to  my  father,  "  If  you  will  make  me  a  pre- 
sent of  one  of  your  sons,  I  will  take  this  one."  Next  to 
me  stood  Fritz,  quite  a  different  kind  of  boy — but  at 
that  time  pale  and  delicate,  and  I  blushed  and  felt  that 
the  Major  had  made  a  mistake. 

The  estates  of  Grabitz  and  Breesen  produced  about 
twelve  or  thirteen  loads  yearly,  and  the  pretty  village  of 
Giesendorf  lay  close  by  Grabitz.  The  neighbourhood 
was  not  so  romantic  as  that  round  Schoritz  and  Dum- 
sevitz,  which  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  being  near  both 
the  sea-shore  and  the  woods  of  Putbus.  However,  we 
were  again  close  to  the  sea,  and  there  were  rich  orchards 
and  flower  gardens,  and  some  woods,  the  "  Lau "  {loo, 
wood),  near  Grabitz  ;  the  fir  wood  by  Breesen,  and  a 
larger  one  still  nearer  by  the  Convent  of  St.  Jurgen  vor 
Rambin.    The  force  of  the  sea  is  almost  greater  than  at 


JET.  lo— i6.J  A   Sacrifice.  25 

Schoritz  and  Dumsevitz.  The  Gellen-see  forms  a  deep 
bay,  about  three  .or  four  leagues  in  depth,  by  from  one  to 
three  in  width,  into  which  the  Baltic  pours  with  great 
force  through  the  entrance  formed  by  the  Island  of 
Hiddensee  and  Prohn  on  the  Pomeranian  coast. 

Grabitz  lay  on  a  little  height,  with  rich  meadows  and 
fields,  containing  half-a-dozen  farms  and  villages  stretch- 
ing far  along  the  shore.  During  great  storms  we  had 
the  awful  pleasure  of  seeing  the  waves  roll  up  to  within 
fifty  feet  of  our  farmhouse.  Then  the  fields  became  one 
huge  sea,  and  what  a  delight  it  was  if  this  happened  in 
December  or  January,  when  a  rapid  frost  would  change 
the  waters  into  a  firm  transparent  sheet  of  ice. 

About  the  first  or  second  year  of  our  life  here, 
when  I  was  about  eleven  or  twelve,  an  incident  hap- 
pened in  which  my  pet  doves  played  a  prominent  part. 
My  father  lay  dangerously  ill.  The  faces  of  my 
mother  and  aunt,  and  the  visits  of  two  or  three  doctors, 
who  were  constantly  coming  and  going,  and  one  of 
whom  had  been  fetched  across  the  sea  from  Stralsund 
in  the  middle  of  the  night,  filled  me  with  gloomy 
anxious  forebodings.  I  applied  myself  diligently  to  the 
only  source  of  comfort  I  knew  of,  and  read  hymns  from 
the  hymn-book,  and  the  Gospel  for  the  week^  aloud  to 
myself  over  and  over  again,  and  offered  devout  prayers 
with  all  my  heart.  At  last  in  my  great  trouble  I  began 
to  ask  myself  whether  there  was  nothing  which  I  could 
offer  up  to  God  as  a  sacrifice  for  my  father's  life.  I 
considered  everything  in  the  house  and  all  my  brothers 
and  sisters,  but  I  felt  that  I  had  no  right  over  their 
lives.     At  last  I  came  to  m3'self,  but  found  that  I  did 


26  Life  of  Arndt.     ^  [a.d.  17S0— 86. 

not  wish  to  die  yet.  So  there  was  nothing  left  but  my 
doves,  and  these  I  offered  to  God  with  fervent  prayer 
and  many  tears.  The  next  morning  came — a  bright 
morning  for  us.  My  aunt  came  into  our  bedroom  very 
early,  and  brought  the  joyful  news  that  a  change  had 
occurred  in  the  night,  and  our  father  was  out  of  danger. 
We  sprang  out  of  bed  quickly,  and  dressed,  and  while 
the  others  went  to  their  usual  occupations  I  went  to 
feed  my  doves.  But  when  I  opened  the  door  of  my 
dove-cote,  what  did  I  see  }  A  vast  battle-field — nothing 
but  corpses.  A  marten  had  gnawed  his  way  through 
the  straw  roof  and  a  rotten  board,  and  my  beauties  lay 
side  by  side  in  long  bleeding  rows,  torn  and  half 
devoured.  One  only,  a  brown  hen,  the  grandmother 
•who  should  have  seen  a  new  race  springing  up  around 
her,  still  sat  on  her  perch  above  the  scene  of  desolation. 
The  event  made  an  indescribable  impression  upon  me, 
but  I  kept  it  to  myself  and  never  mentioned  it  until 
nearly  twenty  years  afterwards,  when  I  happened  to 
be  engaged  with  some  intimate  friends  in  familiar 
conversation  on  the  Divine  Government,  Strangely 
enough,  some  weeks  after  my  loss,  when  I  went  to  open 
my  dove-cote  one  morning  I  found  a  dozen  beautiful 
pigeons,  who  had  strayed  apparently  from  their  own 
home,  sitting  on  the  roof  They  all  went  straight  in 
and  took  up  their  abode  with  the  three  or  four  which  I 
had  procured  in  the  meantime.  Still,  I  did  not  quite 
believe  that  they  had  come  down  from  heaven."^ 

Our  manner  of  life  and  education  here  went  on  in 
much  the  same  way  as  at  Dumsevitz,  except  that  we 


■  Erinnerungen  Gesichte  Geschichten, " 


JET.  10 — 1 6.]  Hcrr  Muller.  2/ 

began  to  have  more  regular  teaching.  A  tutor  came, 
probably  a  very  cheap  one,  for  we  could  not  afford  a 
better,  and  we  were  still  too  young  to  have  much  spent 
on  our  education.  Herr  Gottlob  Heinrich  Muller  had 
taught  the  sons  of  noblemen  and  rich  landowners  for 
more  than  ten  years  !  Surely,  then,  he  was  good  enough 
for  farmers'  sons.  Herr  Muller  was  a  Saxon,  from  the 
town  of  Chemnitz.  There  he  had  attended  the  schools, 
but  had  not  gone  to  the  university,  entering  the  army 
instead,  during  the  Seven  Years'  War.  I  think  he  used 
to  say  that  he  was  pressed  into  the  army  by  the 
Prussians,  and  then  being  taken  prisoner  by  the  Swedes, 
rose  to  the  rank  of  an  inferior  officer  in  the  Swedish 
army.  Upon  obtaining  his  liberty,  he  exchanged  the 
corporal's  cane  for  the  birch  of  Orbilius.  He  was  a  little 
square  man,  with  a  broad  round  head  and  bushy  white 
eyebrows,  beneath  which  glittered  a  pair  of  keen  blue 
eyes.  He  always  wore  gaiters  and  a  thickly  powdered 
wig  with  two  side-locks  and  a  long  thin  pig-tail. 

When  he  walked  out  he  carried  a  long  Spanish  cane. 
His  movements  were  abrupt  and  angular,  as  if  he  were 
always  on  parade  ;  his  bearing  was  erect,  his  voice  clear, 
and  his  glance  piercing — his  character  devout,  honest, 
and  passionate  !  The  very  pretty  and  roguish  daughter 
of  a  neighbour,  Herr  Lange,  afterwards  married  to  a 
pastor,  studied  with  us.  Herr  Muller  taught  us  writing, 
arithmetic,  religious  knowledge,  some  history  and  geo- 
graphy, and  a  little  Latin.  I  say  a  little,  for  he  himself 
knew  but  little.  At  the  end  of  the  two  years  which  the  good 
old  soldier  spent  with  us,  our  store  of  knowledge  was  not 
greatly  increased,  though  the  regularity  of  his  punish- 


28  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1780—86. 

ments  was  no  doubt  an  advantage  to  us,  and  we  were 
firmly  grounded  in  the  externals  of  religion  by  his 
patient  teaching  of  the  hymn-book  and  catechism,  and 
by  the  influence  of  his  own  zealous  Lutheranism.  He 
Avas  a  genuine  Saxon,  such  as  I  have  since  learned  to 
know  in  the  Erzgebirge  and  Voigtland — an  honest,  good- 
natured,  but  hasty  and  passionate  man ;  who  with  the 
pride  of  an  old  soldier,  or  perhaps  the  pride  of  a  school- 
master, looked  down  upon  farm  people  with  great  con- 
tempt, as  he  often  let  them  see — particularly  upon  the 
unpolished  herd  of  peasants  and  day-labourers. 

Among  his  pupils,  I,  with  all  my  obstinacy,  or  perhaps 
on  account  of  my  obstinacy,  being  the  most  obedient, 
came  off  the  best ;  active  volatile  Karl,  and  pretty,  rest- 
less, lively  Katherina  Lange,  the  worst,  while  Fritz  held 
the  middle  place.  Once,  Herr  Miiller,  referring  to  the 
latter's  magnificent  head,  broke  out  passionately  :  "  Friit- 
reich,  I  will  make  a  boy  of  you,  but  you  will  have  to  feel 
the  stick,"  which,  as  may  be  imagined,  became  a  catch- 
word amongst  us. 

The  worst  time  for  his  pupils  was  the  singing  lesson, 
with  which  school  opened  every  morning.  The  old  man 
sang  with  all  his  might  in  a  shrill  grating  voice,  and  even 
terror  itself  could  not  prevent  us  from  sometimes  giving 
way  to  a  smothered  giggle.  Then  in  the  good  old 
Christian  fashion  he  would  bring  down  his  stick  and  lay 
about  him  till  the  chips  flew  about,  without  for  an  instant 
stopping  in  his  song.  But  the  most  perilous  of  all  these 
times  was  when  his  family  came  to  visit  him.  He  had 
a  married  daughter  in  Stralsund  with  whom  his  wife 
lived,  and  also  a  son,  a  young  baker.     They  used  to 


^T.  lo— 16.]  HaT  Dankzvardt.  29 

come  over  the  water  sometimes  on  Saturday  or  Sunday, 
and  stay  the  night,  and  on  Monday  we  had  our  singing 
lesson  before  breakfast  before  they  went  home.  I  don't 
know  whether  the  old  lady,  otherwise  a  gentle,  quiet 
woman,  had  been  taught  by  him,  but  she  had  his  shrill, 
piercing  manner,  and  used  often  to  bring  us  all  into  con- 
fusion, when  with  wonderful  patience  he  would  say, 
"  Mother,  you  must  keep  in  tune,"  which  also  became  a 
joke  with  us. 

When  I  was  about  fourteen  and  my  brother  Fritz 
twelve,  and  Karl  had  returned  to  school  at  Stralsund, 
Herr  Miiller  was  dismissed,  and  Herr  Gottfried  Dank- 
wardt,  a  young  candidate,  took  his  place.  The  change 
was  brought  about  by  my  father's  friends,  Herr  Stenzler 
and  Herr  Kioiger,  and  through  my  mother's  urgency. 
Herr  Dankwardt  was  the  son  of  a  surgeon  from  Barth, 
in  Pomerania.  He  was  then  a  young  man  of  about  five 
and  twenty,  small^  fair-haired,  cheerful  and  lively,  really 
full  of  piety  and  kindness,  though  saturated  with  the  in- 
fluence of  the  "  Storm  and  Stress  "  period,*  which  lasted 
from  1770  to  1785.  This  gave  him  many  oddities  of 
manner,  which  we  children  noticed  little,  but  which  much 
offended  my  mother  and  aunt.  However,  my  father, 
who  had  an  instinct  for  everything  really  good,  took  his 
part,  and  soon  set  him  in  his  right  place  in  the  house. 
This  good  man  lived  with  us  for  three  years,  and  faith- 
fully imparted  to  us  all  he  knew  himself,  and  shared  all 

*  The  period  which  produced  Goethe's  *'  Gcitz  von  BerHchingen,"  and 
Klinger's  play  "  Sturm  und  Drang,"  from  which  the  name  is  taken ;  when, 

G.  H.  Lewes  says,  "  there  was  one  universal  shout  for  Nature.  Every- 
thing established  was  humdrum." 


30  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1780— 86. 

his  interests  and  pleasures  with  us.  He  had  an  honest 
heart  and  a  good  head,  knew  Latin  tolerably,  French 
moderately,  a  little  English,  but  scarcely  any  Greek,  for 
Greek  in  those  days  was  never  required  from  candidates 
for  the  preacher's  office.  These  he  taught  us,  as  well  as 
the  other  usual  subjects,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  and  we 
still  honour  his  memory.  As  long  as  my  father  lived, 
and  he  was  pastor  of  Bodenstede  near  Barth,  and  on 
the  promontory  of  Dars,  he  Avas  always  a  welcome 
friend  in  our  house.  He  was  not  only  a  good  earnest 
teacher  and  a  faithful,  earnest  pastor,  as  the  words  are 
commonly  used,  but  he  was,  in  his  innermost  being,  a 
man  of  a  rare  nature,  courageous  and  enthusiastic,  hiding 
in  his  delicate  frame  a  mind  of  unusual  power.  At  the 
time  when  I  was  threatened  with  a  judicial  investigation, 
he  was  also  implicated,  on  account  of  some  letters  which 
were  found  with  me  written  by  him  in  the  years  18 10 
and  181 1,  in  which  he  had  spoken  in  his  own  way  about 
the  then  prosperous  Spanish  rebellion  ;  and  as  I  thus  in 
his  old  age  gave  him  trouble  in  return  for  all  his  kind- 
ness to  me  in  my  youth,  I  will  here,  as  a  monument  to 
his  memory,  tell  a  story  of  his  conduct  in  the  terrible 
times.  When,  in  the  winter  of  1807,  the  French  general 
Mortier  overran  Stralsund,  French  outposts  were  placed 
in  the  villages  on  the  Pomeranian  coast,  and  among 
them  in  the  parish  of  Bodenstede,  not  far  from  Barth, 
opposite  Dars.  The  French  soldiers  soon  began  to  be- 
have in  their  foreign  fashion  with  the  women  and  girls. 
This  enraged  the  villagers — men  accustomed  to  danger 
and  the  use  of  powder  and  shot.  They  assembled  in 
righteous  anger;  the  French,  terrified  by  their  numbers 


JET.  lo— 16.]     A   Story  of  the  French  Ijivasion. 


and  activity,  were  disarmed,  bound,  and,  to  the  number 
of  about  fifty  men,  shipped  off  as  prisoners  to  Sweden. 
There  was  a  short  period  of  rejoicing.  Then  the  story 
was  reported  at  the  French  camp,  and  several  hundred 
men  were  sent  to  punish  the  village.  The  mayor  and 
several  of  the  chief  men  of  Bodenstede  were  seized  and 
condemned  to  be  shot,  and  orders  were  given  that  the 
village  should  be  plundered  and  burnt.  In  this  ex- 
tremity, when  the  prisoners  were  awaiting  certain  death, 
the  little  pastor  appeared,  and  boldly  addressed  the 
French  commander :  "  Sir,  you  have  seized  the  innocent. 
I  pray  you  let  these  men  go  ;  they  are  innocent,  and 
have  been  led  astray.  Here  you  have  the  real  criminal. 
Take  me,  and  shoot  me,  if  it  is  God's  will.  Burn  and 
lay  waste  my  house.  I  am  the  one  to  blame — the  only 
guilty  person.  I  preached  to  these  men,  that  they 
should  stand  by  their  king  to  the  last  man,  and  do  all  in 
their  power  against  the  enemies  of  their  fatherland." 

These  gallant  words  touched  the  foreigner's  heart.  He 
set  the  prisoners  free,  laid  a  moderate  fine  upon  the 
village ;  and,  to  appear  to  carry  out  his  orders  as  to  the 
burning  of  it,  he  burned  down  some  miserable  little  huts 
on  the  outskirts,  where  the  fishermen  were  accustomed  to 
smoke  their  herrings. 

With  the  arrival  of  Herr  Dankwardt  began  a  new 
period  in  our  history.  Our  manner  of  life  became  that 
of  those  who  are  preparing  to  be  students,  or,  as  the 
Swedes  call  them  from  their  special  characteristic,  "read- 
ing men,"  (Lesekerle).  There  were  several  candidates  in 
the  neighbourhood  who  used  to  meet  together  weekly  for 
discussion  in  a  kind  of  club,  often  bringing  their  pupils 


32  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1780—86. 

with  them.  They  also  started  a  very  good  ch'culating 
library  amongst  themselves  and  the  pastors  of  the  island, 
containing  all  the  newest  and  best  light  literature  of  the 
day,  by  which  our  household  naturally  profited. 

Among  the  boys  whom  we  met  most  often  at  this  club 
were  Gottlieb  von  Kathen,  our  nearest  neighbour,  Buslaf 
von  Platen,  and  Christoph  von  Schmiterlow.  Among 
the  candidates,  Herr  Theobul  Kosegarten,"^  then  a  tutor 
at  Gotemitz,  and  Herr  Nestius,  a  nephew  of  the  learned 
and  famous  Provost  Pistorius  of  Poseritz,  were  much  the 
most  distinguished.  Occasionally,  too,  the  wild  Johann 
Hagemeister,  an  impetuous  and  talented  young  man, 
used  to  come  storming  over  from  Greifswald;  who,  how- 
ever, afterwards  miserably  wasted  and  flung  away  his  fine 
talents. 

He  and  the  excitable  Kosegarten  introduced  more  ex- 
citement into  our  life  than  we  had  been  accustomed  to  ; 
but  we  soon  returned  to  the  old  quiet  ways,  for  ray  father 
insisted  on  order  and  propriety,  and  my  mother  on  pru- 
dence and  decorum  ;  moreover,  our  narrow  income  would 
not  allow  of  any  extravagant  outbreaks. 

Beside  the  intercourse  with  these  young  men,  intro- 
duced by  Herr  Dankwardt,  we  still  kept  up  with  our  old 
friends. 

*  Ludwig  Theobul  (properly  Gotthard)  Kosegarten,  the  son  of  a  clergy- 
man of  Grevesmiihlen,  in  Mecklenburg,  was  born  in  175S.  After  com- 
pleting his  studies  at  Greifswald,  he  began  life  as  a  tutor.  He  afterwards 
became  rector  of  a  school  at  Wolgast,  and  then  was  appointed  to  the 
valuable  living  of  Altenkirchen,  in  Riigen,  where  he  produced  his  best 
poems.  In  1808,  during  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  French,  he 
was  appointed  by  Soult  to  a  professorship  in  Greifswald,  and  he  died 
rector  of  the  University  in  1818.  He  published  several  volumes  of  poems 
and  romances,  the  best  known  of  which  are  the  "  Inselfahrt, "  and  the 
"Jukuude." 


JET.  10—16.]  Hospitality  in  Rilgen.  33 

Herr  Stenzler  and  Hcrr  Kriiger  often  came  to  see  us, 
making  a  little  digression  to  Grabitz  on  their  journey  to 
and  from  Stralsund,  and  sleeping  a  night  or  two  with  us. 
They  brought  us  many  good  books  and  much  excellent 
advice ;  which  we  valued  most  from  Stenzler,  who  was 
not  only  an  excellent  preacher,  but  also  a  considerable 
scholar,  and  had  a  choice  library. 

In  the  fine  seasons,  we  and  our  tutor  used  frequently 
to  visit  these  clergymen,  and  our  uncle  Moritz  Schuma- 
cher at  Silmnitz,  afterwards  at  Rentz  near  Gartz,  and 
Farmer  Dalmer  at  Schoritz.  The  caravan  usually  started 
on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  returned  on  Monday  even- 
ing. These  all  lived  at  two  or  three  hours'  distance; 
but  besides  these  we  had  relations  in  Stralsund,  and 
business  acquaintances  of  my  father's,  who  took  advan- 
tage of  the  situation  of  Grabitz,  which  was  only  an  hour 
from  the  Alte  Fahre,to  come  to  us  for  Saturday  or  Sunday. 

They  generally  brought  wine,  or  the  materials  for 
making  punch,  v/ith  them.  Our  poultry-yard  produced 
geese,  turkeys,  ducks,  fowls,  and  pigeons;  and  my  father's 
gun  provided  hares,  partridges,  wild  ducks,  and  splendid 
snipes,  with  which  the  meadows  and  the  sea-shore 
swarmed. 

There  was  then  everywhere  in  the  island  great  hospi- 
tality, which  still  exists  to  some  extent,  but  the  introduc- 
tion of  sea-bathing  with  the  passing  crowd  of  visitors  has 
no  doubt  done  it  an  injury.  It  was  very  much  like  what 
the  famous  but  uncouth  scholar,  Samuel  Johnson,  de- 
scribes, on  his  visit  to  the  Hebrides,  as  existing  among  the 
country  nobility,  clergy,  and  farmers.  When  the  desire 
for  society  came  over  a  man,  he  would  set  off  unan- 

3 


34  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1780— 86. 


nounced  to  visit  a  neighbour  or  friend.  Such  chance 
visitors  were  always  welcome,  whether  to  the  number  of 
five  or  fifteen.  There  was  little  ceremony.  Fish,  poultry, 
smoked  or  salted  provisions  were  always  plentiful.  Sugar, 
tea  and  coffee  were  very  cheap  in  that  land  of  almost 
free  trade.  Beer  and  brandy  were  never  wanting,  nor 
was  often  a  glass  of  wine  ;  while  the  most  unfeigned  and 
hearty  hospitality  reigned  everywhere. 

This  was  carried  to  such  an  extent  that  when,  some- 
times, one  or  two  well-filled  carriages  might  stand  ready 
to  start  on  one  of  these  visits,  and  another  drove  up  full 
of  visitors,  it  was  an  understood  thing  that  the  latter 
should  turn  round  and  accompany  the  former. 

Most  houses  were  well  prepared  with  well-filled  feather 
beds  to  accommodate  visitors,   in   case  they  were  pre- 
vented by  bad  roads  or  stormy  weather  from  returning 
home  the  same  night.     Our  friends  from  the  Sound  used 
to  bring  their  children  with  them,  among  whom  we  found 
many  companions  who  taught  us  new  games,  especially 
different  games  of  ball.     Then  there  was  the  building 
and   sailing  of  boats    on  our  many  ponds  ;   skating  in 
winter,    and    shooting    at    a   mark    in    summer.      This 
last  amusement  had  been  brought  from  the  capital,  and 
was  pla}-ed  in  this  way.     A  stake,  with  a  bird  on  it,  was 
set  up   in  the  little  fir  wood,  called   Bakenberg,    in  a 
meadow  near  Giesendorf,   and  we  used  to  shoot  at  it, 
sometimes  for  days   together  before  a  lucky  hit   made 
one  of  us  the  king  of  the  company. 

There  were  generally  great  festivities  in  Whitsun- 
week.  It  was  the  country  custom  to  march  out  from 
the  farms  with  great  solemnity  to  the  sound  of  pipes 


/ET.  lo— 16.]  Posewald.  35 

and  horns,  and  to  set  up  tents,  decorated  with  May  and 
other  flowers,  in  which  were  provided  bread  and  butter, 
cakes  and  punch.  Crowds  of  our  neighbours  and  friends 
from  the  Sound,  young  and  old,  were  usually  invited. 

Thinking  of  those  pleasant  times  reminds  me  of  a 
sreat  mortification  which  befell  me  about  the  last 
year  of  our  life  at  Grabitz.  My  brother  Fritz  and  I 
had  both  of  us  written  some  verses  as  an  invitation  to 
one  of  our  shooting-matches.  These  were  read  aloud, 
and  Fritz's  gained  great  applause  from  the  audience,  as 
really .  gay  and  witty  ;  while  my  high-flown,  bombastic 
lines  received  little  approbation.  The  evil  spirit  of 
jealousy  took  possession  of  me  forthwith,  and  Fritz 
coming  in  my  way  just  at  the  moment,  I  resented  it 
more  bitterly  than  I  ought. 

Here  I  must  mention  a  place  to  which  I  was  fond  of 
making  pilgrimages  on  foot  and  otherwise,  and  which  T 
continued  to  visit  in  much  later  years,  until  I  was  be- 
tween thirty  and  forty.  This  place  was  Posewald,  a 
little  distance  from  Putbus,  to  which  it  belonged.  There 
lived  the  patriarch  of  our  family,  old  Hinrich  Arndt. 
With  this  most  faithful  friend  and  brother  of  ni}'  father, 
it  was  our  custom  to  stay  for  several  weeks  in  autumn  and 
winter,  at  the  time  when  apples  and  pears  were  ripe,  and 
when  the  honey  was  taken  from  the  hives,  and  at  the 
opening  of  the  hunting  season. 

Old  Count  Alalte  let  his  tenants  hunt  as  they  liked, 
without  hindrance,  only  reserving  to  himself  the  chase 
of  the  stag.  My  old  uncle  and  my  father,  in  fact  all  my 
father's  family,  were  mighty  Ximrods,  and  kept  first-rate 
dogs  and  guns  ;  but  my  father  was  perhaps  the  best 


3—2 


36  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  17S0— 86. 

shot  of  them  all,  and  seldom  did  a  snipe  escape  him. 
How  often  have  I  followed  him  over  the  beach  after 
these  birds,  or  through  the  twilight  after  wild  ducks,  or 
over  the  fallows  after  the  myriads  of  plovers,  filling  the 
game-bags  as  the  birds  fell. 

When  they  explored  the  woody  districts  of  Posewald, 
Nadewitz,  and  Siillitz  (which  my  old  uncle  also  rented), 
with  their  dogs,  I  was  generally  set  on  a  horse,  with 
straps  on  each  side  of  my  saddle,  to  which  the  poor 
hares  and  the  family  of  Malepart  were  strung.  These 
expeditions  sometimes  occupied  the  whole  day,  often 
through  storm  and  rain  and  snow  ;  for  the  men  were 
then  at  a  sound  healthy  age,  and  I  dared  not  grumble 
however  much  I  inwardly  disliked  the  cold  and  wet. 
And  I  did  not  grumble,  for  we  had  so  many  adventures, 
and  old  Hinrich  was  such  a  poetical,  romantic  old  man, 
th.it  I  always  enjoyed  being  with  him. 

I  call  the  fine  old  peasant  poetical  and  romantic,  and 
I  may  apply  the  same  epithets  to  the  country  round 
Putbus,  which  with  its  hills,  woods,  Hiinengydbcr,  altars 
and  gravestones,  its  shores,  islands,  and  headlands,  is  in 
itself  a  romance  and  a  poem.  Old  Hinrich,  though  nothing 
more  than  a  somewhat  superior  peasant,  was  an  emblem 
of  the  country,  or  rather  he  portrayed  it  in  his  life  and 
manners.  He  was  a  handsome  man  of  middle  height, 
with  fine  features,  fair  hair,  and  blue  eyes ;  almost 
always  cheerful,  and  like  one  who  knew  nothing  of  care 
and  trouble.  He  was  less  educated  than  my  father,  but 
had  a  fine  natural  genius,  and  never  seemed  to  need 
artificial  pleasures.  He  played  well  on  the  violin,  but 
never  played  at  cards,  and  when  his  out-door  work  was 


JET.  lo— 16.]  OM  Hinrich  Arndt.  37 

over,  or  he  had  come  home  tired  from  the  chase,  after 
enjoying  the  gifts  of  God,  with  which  his  table  was 
always  well  supplied,  he  would  sit  at  mid-day  or  in  the 
evening  at  his  house  door,  and  was  glad  if  one  would 
come  and  sit  by  him  and  listen  to  his  stories  of  the 
neighbourhood.  He  would  tell  how  the  northern  hero, 
Olaf  Tryggveson  leaped  into  the  sea  ;  how  at  the  spot 
where  the  tower  of  Wusterhusen  church  now  rises,  a 
king  crowned  with  gold  had  sprung  into  the  sea,  and 
how  his  head  and  golden  crown  may  still  be  seen  on 
midsummer  nights. 

He  would  describe  the  battles  which  had  taken  place 
on  these  coasts,  when  Charles  XH.  and  the  old  Dessauer 
had  fought  together,  and  would  bring  out  the  cannon- 
balls  which  his  people  had  found  in  the  fields,  ditches, 
and  ponds  round  Nadelitz.  The  old  man  enjoyed  these 
stories  and  told  them  well ;  and  he  knew  also  a  great 
deal  about  the  events  of  the  history  of  Sweden  and 
Riigen. 

He  had  also  learnt  a  good  deal  of  German  and 
general  history  from  some  old  chronicles  which  always 
lay  on  a  shelf.  But  the  man  himself  was  better  than  all 
his  stories.  He  was  beloved  by  all  around  him,  and  was 
always  full  of  life  and  spirits,  even  in  the  narrow  round 
of  his  monotonous  life  overflowing  with  w^it  and  humour. 
No  joke  was  too  broad  for  him  so  long  as  there  was 
nothing  wrong  in  it. 

I  have  called  him  the  patriarch,  and  such  he  really  was. 
Honest,  brave,  and  ever  ready  to  be  of  service  whenever 
and  wherever  he  could,  he  let  trouble  and  misfortune 
pass  easily  by  him,  and  rose  above  them  into  the  sun- 


38  Life  of  Ariidt.  [a.d.  17S0— 86. 


shine  of  a  life  of  strong  faith  in  God's  government  of 
the  world.  My  father,  easily  moved  and  excitable,  was 
very  unlike  him,  even  in  personal  appearance  ;  being  a 
tall,  strong,  dark  man,  but  their  dissimilarity  only  seemed 
to  strengthen  their  attachment  to  one  another.  As  the 
patriarch,  the  eldest  of  the  house,  he  not  only  had  great 
authority  over  his  relations,  but  enjoyed  great  influence 
among  his  neighbours.  He  went  by  the  name  of  Father 
Arndt,  and  would  never  allow  his  servants  even  to  call 
him  anything  else.  He  hated  the  word  Herr  (lord, 
master,  Mr.),  and  said  Count  Putbus  was  the  real  Herr, 
in  which  he  was  perhaps  right.  On  the  strength  of  his 
paternal  dignity  he  was  allowed  to  do  much  which  would 
not  have  been  borne  from  any  one  else.  Once,  when  I 
was  a  young  man,  I  said  something  disrespectful  of  the 
King  of  Sweden,  upon  which  he  gave  me  a  resounding 
box  on  the  ear,  saying,  "  Boy,  do  you  dare  speak  so  of 
the  king.'"  To  another  relation  whose  wife  had  just 
presented  him  with  twins,  and  who  was  wringing  his 
hands  over  the  cradle,  he  said,  "  You  coward !  don't  you 
believe  that  what  God  has  given  He  can  support  T  Such 
he  remained  to  the  last.  My  brothers  and  I  visited  him 
about  six  months  before  his  death.  He  died  in  the 
winter  of  181 1.  The  old  man,  who  was  then  over  eighty, 
and  nmch  broken  down,  was  sitting  in  his  room  with  his 
old  mother,  but  he  brightened  up  at  our  appearance, 
and  sat  down  with  us  to  table  ;  made  them  bring  wine ; 
and  chatted  almost  as  well  as  in  days  gone  by,  saying  at 
parting,  "  Children,  you  will  soon  lay  me  in  the  ground. 
Then  you  are  to  be  cheerful,  and  drink  some  of  this 
wine,  for  I  have  lived  a  joyful  life  before  God  all  my  days." 


^T.  lo— 16.]  TJic  Grcat-Grandmotlicr.  39 

Such  was  the  patriarch  !  In  a  quiet  Httle  room  there 
still  sat  at  her  spinning-wheel  a  kind  gentle  old  Fate, 
the  mother  of  the  patriarch  and  of  my  father,  whose  old 
age  the  pious  son  had  cherished  with  the  greatest  ten- 
derness and  care.  She  was  the  model  of  a  beautiful 
stately  old  woman,  much  resembling  my  father,  once 
fair  and  ruddy  as  King  David  of  old,  and  always  happy 
and  beloved.  She  lived  ninety-six  years  on  this  earth, 
and  with  her  kisses  on  my  cheek  has  called  down  many 
a  blessing  on  my  head. 

In  my  youth  and  later  life  I  knew  many  of  her  other 
sons,  all  famous  for  their  strength  and  horsemanship, 
and  when  young  the  heroes  of  many  a  wild  adventure ;  so 
that  the  whole  neighbourhood  spoke  of  the  strong,  hot 
Arndt  blood.  The  family  ancestor,  the  Swedish  officer, 
seems  to  have  long  survived  in  his  descendants,  and 
even  now  his  blood  boils  up  occasionally  in  some  one  of 
the  family.  One  of  them,  who  had  a  dairy-farm  at 
Darsband,  died  early,  and  I  can  only  dimly  remember 
him  ;  another,  Johann  Arndt,  a  Putbus  woodman  of 
Granitz,  was  very  like  Hinrich  in  appearance,  but 
gentler  and  more  yielding  in  disposition,  a  keen  sports- 
man, birdcatcher,  and  fisherman,  very  clever  with  his 
fingers,  and  skilful  in  carving  and  weaving.  He  sur- 
passed all  his  brothers  in  strength,  so  that  in  his  youth 
he  never  met  his  equal  in  wrestling.  Last  came  the 
twins,  Jochim  and  Christian,  who  were  younger  than  my 
father.  Jochim  had  a  small  farm,  and  was  not  tall  and 
strong  like  his  brothers,  but  very  clever  and  lively.  A 
more  careless,  easy-going  fellow  I  never  saw,  but  this 
was  only  in  his  leisure  moments  ;  at  work  he  was  steady 


40  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1780— 86. 

and  orderly  enough.  I  did  not  know  him  till  later 
in  my  life.  He  was  refined  and  gentle  in  manners,  with 
bright  eyes,  and  a  steady  look  that  quailed  at  nothing 
and  nobody.  I  have  known  few  men  of  clearer  sense, 
better  judgment,  or  more  cheerful  nature,  and  with  all  his 
good-tempered  joviality,  he  was  sometimes  sarcastic,  and 
looked  upon  most  men  as  nothing  but  fools  and  dreamers. 
Between  the  years  1804 — 18 12,  when  I  was  occasionally 
at  home,  he  was  often  at  my  father's  and  brother's 
houses.  Many  a  time  have  I  played  or  talked  with  him 
late  into  the  night.  For  when  the  hour  came  when  most 
men  go  to  bed,  he  used  to  get  one  or  two  companions  to 
sit  up  and  talk  or  play  cards  with  him  for  three  or  four 
hours,  and  so  help  him  through  the  night,  having  the 
peculiarity  of  only  needing  about  half  as  much  sleep 
as  other  men.  Although  he  had  been  a  very  hard- 
working man  in  his  youth,  two  or  three  hours'  sleep  were 
enough  for  him  at  sixty. 

Jochim's  twin  brother  Christian,  in  his  youth  a  wild 
young  fellow,  had  been  pressed  into  the  famous  Prussian 
dragoon  regiment  of  Anspach  and  Baireuth,  in  Vv'hich  he 
had  risen  to  the  rank  of  sergeant.  He,  too,  lived  in  his 
latter  years  in  the  house  of  the  patriarch  at  Posewald. 
He  was  tall  and  thin,  a  man  of  inches,  and  also  of 
unusual  strength,  and  with  the  trace  of  former  beauty. 
He  formed  a  part  of  the  poetry  of  the  house,  and  had 
an  inexhaustible  fund  of  camp  stories  and  popular 
legends,  drawn  from  his  own  experience.  But  his  chief 
attraction  for  us  was  the  fine  melodious  voice  with  which 
he  used  to  sing  numbers  of  merry  popular  hunting  and 
soldier's  songs.     He  did  not  join  the  dragoon  regiment 


JET.  lo — 1 6.]  A  Story  of  Frederick  tJie  Great.  4 1 

till  after  the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  only  fought  under 
the  great  king  during  the  war  of  the  Bavarian  succession, 
the  so-called  Potato  War  (Kartoffel  Krieg).*  He  used 
to  delight  in  telling  two  stories  of  old  King  Fritz,  in 
which  he  had  taken  a  part. 

On  his  first  appearance  at  the  mustering  of  the 
regiment,  the  king  asked  him  where  he  came  from,  and 
was  told  that  he  was  from  Rugen,  from  the  district  of 
Putbus,  and  often  afterwards  at  reviews  he  would  pat 
him  on  the  cheek,  and  say,  "Ah,  the  handsome  Put- 
busser." 

In  the  war  of  the  Bavarian  succession,  it  happened 
that  the  king,  visiting  the  outposts,  expressed  a  wish  to 
capture  one  of  the  Austrian  skirmishers  for  the  sake  of 
the  information  to  be  obtained  from  him ;  but  the 
Austrian  hussars  were  too  well  mounted  to  be  easily 
ridden  down.  Upon  this,  the  Prussian  colonel,  in  com- 
mand of  the  post,  sent  for  a  gun,  and  called  out  Arndt, 
whom  he  well  knew  to  be  a  good  shot.  The  dragoon 
sprang  from  his  horse,  loaded  his  gun,  looked  at  the 
king,  saying,  "  But  only  the  horse,  your  Majesty,"  and  at 
the  word  down  came  the  horse  of  an  hussar  ;  and  Arndt, 
again  on  horseback,  overtook  its  flying  master  and 
brought  him  to  the  king,  who  slipped  two  pieces  of  gold 
into  his  hand,  saying,  "  Bravo,  my  son.  Never  shoot  a 
man  unnecessarily." 

*  "  Tlie  Prussian  soldiery  Avere  disgusted  -with  this  -^var,  and  called  it,  in 
allusion  to  the  foraging,  'A  scramble  for  potatoes' — '  Der  Kartoffel  Krieg,' 
'  The  Potato  War ;'  which  is  its  common  designation  to  this  day.  The 
Austrians,  in  a  like  humour,  called  it  ' Zwetschken-Rummel '  (say  'Three- 
button  Loo '),  a  game  not  worth  playing,  especially  at  such  qost." — Cak.- 
LVLE  ("Frederick  the  Great"). 


42  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  17S0— 86. 

But  it  was  not  only  those  of  Arndt  blood  that  were  of 
this  strong  and  vigorous  nature.  In  my  youth  I  saw 
many  other  men  who  had  once  been  famous  for  deeds  of 
strength  and  horsemanship;  but  according  to  old  Hinrich, 
the  race  was  fast  vanishing  from  the  district  of  Putbus. 
Count  Make  zu  Putbus  had,  on  the  death  of  his  father, 
Count  Moritz  Ulrich  zu  Putbus,  who  had  been  a  very 
easy  master,  received  the  estate  heavily  encumbered,  and 
from  a  strict  landlord,  which  at  first  he  was  obliged  to 
be,  had  grown  to  be  a  hard  master.  He  destroyed  large 
villages  and  made  farms  of  them,  and  had  altogether 
wielded  his  sceptre  so  harshly  that  very  many,  in  fact 
most  of  the  finest  and  most  active  young  rnen,  had  made 
their  escape  by  land  or  sea  into  some  foreign  country, 
and  never  returned. 

Hospitable  Posewald  was  a  place  frequented  not  only 
by  the  family  and  friends,  but  by  all  the  good  people  of 
the  neighbourhood,  and  among  them  some  curious 
specimens,  in  which  that  time  and  that  district  was 
particularly  rich. 

I  am  sure  that  my  impressions  of  those  times  are  not 
mistaken.  People  were  then  less  educated,  but  they 
possessed  more  individuality,  more  variety,  and  more 
poetry  than  they  do  now.  The  stamp  of  nature  had  not 
been  polished  to  such  a  smooth  uniformity.  You  could 
learn  more  from  them,  have  more  of  them. 

It  was  really  a  poetic  epoch,  when  Germany  was 
waking  from  a  long  weary  dream  to  a  literary  and 
poetic  existence  of  its  own.  And  the  finest  part  of  it 
was  the  universal  sympathy  which  was  felt  in  the  move- 
ment, and  which  was  greater  than  anything  which  I  can 


^T.  lo— 16.]  Literary  Interests.  43 

perceive  in  the  present  generation.  It  was  the  case  not 
merely  among  students  and  the  educated  classes,,  but 
also  among  the  simple  and  unlearned,  such  as  my  parents 
and  people  like  them.  Already  people  had  advanced  from 
"  Grandison  "  and  "  Pamela,"  from  Gellert's  "  Schwedische 
Grafin,'  and  Miller's  "  Siegwart  "  to  "  Werthers  Leiden," 
and  to  Shakespeare,  translated  by  Eschenburg  and  Wie- 
land,  while  Lessing,  Claudius,  Burger,  and  Stollberg 
were  hailed  with  acclamation  by  old  and  young.  The 
air  was  full  of  freshness  and  life,  and  it  was  not  merely 
impetuous  young  men  like  Kosegarten  and  Hagemeister 
who  brought  it  with  them  into  our  house.  Brother  Fritz 
was  the  first  in  our  schoolroom  to  make  verses  ;  he  even 
began  to  turn  Roman  history  into  plays,  and  made 
many  other  attempts  of  different  kinds,  of  which  I  still 
preserve  a  few  specimens.  He  had  a  very  happy  way  of 
turning  the  ridiculous  and  comic  events  of  the  household 
or  neighbourhood  into  verse.  This  roused  my  emulation, 
and  if  it  had  not  been  for  him  I  should  probably  never 
have  made  a  line  of  poetry,  for  I  certainly  did  not 
receive  from  nature  enough  of  that  smooth-flowing  fan- 
tastic magnetic  fluid  which  goes  to  the  making  of  a  poet ; 
and  if  some  of  my  little  lyric  pieces  have  been  tolerably 
successful,  it  is  only  according  to  the  proverb,  "  A  blind 
pigeon  sometimes  finds  a  pea."  But  Fritz  was  quite  of 
another  sort,  with  a  clear  head  and  a  royal  memory, 
and  with  perhaps  more  artistic  than  poetic  talent.  He 
spoke  and  declaimed  like  a  king,  and  could  imitate  the 
voice,  tones  and  gestures  of  men  and  animals,  of  all  ages 
and  sexes.  He  drew  excellently,  and  possessed  that 
quiet  humour  which  appears  quite  unconscious,  and  never 


44'  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  17S0— 86. 

laughs  at  its  own  jokes.  He  was  at  that  time  a  weak, 
sickly  boy,  rather  backward  in  physical  development, 
and  fond  of  sitting  ov^er  the  fire,  probably  the  result  of 
some  accidents  from  which  he  had  suffered,  such  as 
breaking  his  arm,  and  being  poisoned  by  swallowing 
some  copper  coins.  After  his  fifteenth  year,  however, 
he  raUied,  and  grew  to  be  a  fine  handsome  man,  and 
distinguished  himself  as  a  boxer  and  wrestler.  Unfor- 
tunately, however,  this  brilliant  young  man  never 
developed  his  great  gifts,  or  rather,  he  threw  them  away. 
He  might  have  been  a  great  painter,  sculptor,  or  actor, 
or  if  he  had  preferred  it  a  distinguished  scholar.  But  he 
took  up  the  study  of  law,  became  an  attorney,  married 
too  early,  and  had  to  earn  his  bread  in  the  monotonous 
drudgery  of  daily  toil. 

He  greatly  enlivened  our  school  routine  by  the  cari- 
catures which  he  drew  on  every  available  scrap  of  paper, 
and  the  comic  humorous  verses  which  he  was  constantly 
pouring  forth.  We  had  a  cousin  who  was  being 
educated  with  us  at  Grabitz,  and  who  was  infected  with 
his  poetic  rage,  and  with  him  he  carried  on  a  continual 
rivalry  in  tragedy,  comedy,  and  plays  a  la  Hans  Sachs. 
This  cousin  was  the  son  of  my  uncle  Moritz  Schumacher, 
a  fine  industrious  boy,  whom  we  called,  for  the  sake  of 
distinction,  "  Little  Fritz."  These  tv/o  together  turned 
every  conceivable  thing  into  rhyme.  They  mixed 
everything,  great  and  small,  in  the  most  marvellous 
tragi-comedies — big  Fritz  with  conscious  humour,  little 
Fritz  in  enthusiastic  innocence,  describing  the  loves 
and  wars  of  their  dove-cotes  in  the  names  of  the  heroes 
of  antiquit}^ 


^T.  lo— 16.]  Poor  Gccsc!  45 


This  rhyming-  fit,  and  our  enthusiasm  for  the  poets 
we  were  reading-  was,  through  my  fault,  the  cause  of 
a  tragedy  which  cost  my  mother  many  tears  and  all 
of  us  many  a  good  dinner.  The  black  story  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

In  the  orchard,  close  under  our  schoolroom  window, 
there  was  a  beautiful  sunny  grass-plat,  on  w^hich  we  had 
made  a  thing  something  like  a  Pegnitz  flower-garden. 
The  grass  plat  w^as  divided  into  many  little  duodecimo 
gardens,  and  in  the  middle  of  each  we  laid  a  heap  of 
brightrcoloured  stones  which  we  picked  up  on  the  beach. 
Each  separate  garden  bore  the  name  of  a  poet — Gellert, 
Hagedorn,  Uz,  Lessing,  Burger,  Stollberg,  Holty, 
Claudius,  Overbeck,  etc.  Goethe's  greatness  lay  natur- 
ally still  beyond  our  range  of  vision.  To  keep  the  bright, 
grass-surrounded  little  gardens  constantly  green,  it  was 
necessary  that  they  should  be  regularly  watered.  But 
water  was  wanting  in  the  garden.  There  was  no  well  or 
pond  in  the  neighbourhood.  So  I,  as  the  strongest, 
applied  myself  to  the  matter,  and  determined  to  dig  a 
little  pond  in  which  the  water  might  collect.  This  was 
the  work  of  my  leisure  hours  during  several  weeks,  and 
soon  copious  showers  of  rain  filled  my  hole  with  water- 
Then  it  happened  that  a  flock  of  between  seventy  and 
eighty  young  geese,  almost  full-grown  and  fledged,  were 
one  evening  driven  into  the  orchard,  that  they  might 
sleep  in  safety  from  dogs  and  foxes  within  its  well- 
fenced  enclosure.  But,  instead  of  going  to  sleep,  the 
poor  geese  began  to  look  for  water,  and,  alas  !  found  it — 
rushed  into  my  deep  hole,  which  offered  no  easy  way 
out,   and  fighting  and  struggling,  were  smothered  in  it. 


4^  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1780—86. 

all  except  four  or  five  v.hich  were  taken  out  alive  from, 
among  the  corpses  of  the  others. 

I  must  here  mention  another  juvenile  amusement  of 
which  I  think  I  v/as  the  originator — that  of  telling 
stories.  We  elder  children  agreed  that  during  the 
winter,  when  the  evenings  and  nights  are  almost  too 
long  with  us  northerners,  we  would  wile  away  the  time 
with  stories  which  were  to  be  related  by  each  in  turn. 
The  plan  was  carried  out  with  great  spirit,  and  lasted 
for  several  winters,  and  the  pleasure  of  it  was  so  great 
that  we  often  hurried  to  bed  at  eight  o'clock,  that  we 
might  have  more  time  to  enjoy  them — for  in  bed  and  in 
the  dark  was  the  time  chosen  for  telling  them.  We 
tried  to  remember  all  the  marvellous  things  that  came 
in  our  geography  and  natural  history  lessons,  or  any 
strange  story  we  heard  related,  that  we  might  retail  it 
in  a  new  and  more  romantic  form.  The  plan  was  as 
conscientiously  carried  out  as  it  had  been  solemnly 
agreed  upon,  and  I  do  not  remember  that  any  serious 
interruption  ever  took  place,  much  less  that  anything 
unkind  or  disagreeable  was  ever  said  to  the  narrator. 
We  always  listened  with  the  most  respectful  patience. 
I,  for  my  part,  had  a  fabulous  golden  eagle,  which  I 
used  to  feed  with  almonds  and  raisins,  figs  and  oranges, 
and  harness  to  an  aerial  chariot,  and  which  used  to  bear 
me  to  magnetic  islands  and  diamond  mines,  into  the  dens 
of  giants  and  magicians,  into  the  golden  palaces  of 
gnomes,  and  through  the  Mongolian  desert  of  Kobe, 
under  the  dangerous  wings  of  the  Roc  itself.  Such 
trifles  as  these  even  were  the  natural  result  of  the 
poetical  influenza  of  those  days.     It  had  at  least  this 


/ET.  lo— 16.]  Out  of  Door    Work. 


47 


advantage  for  us,  that  we  early  learned  to  talk  and 
describe,  though  in  after  years  it  brought  on  me  a 
pleasant  penalty,  for  whenever  I  appeared  in  a  house 
where  there  were  children  I  was  called  on  at  once  to 
harness  my  golden  eagle  ;  so  far  had  the  fame  of  our 
story-telling  spread. 

The  germs  of  higher  and  nobler  things  lay  hidden  in 
these  childish  games,  and  they  contributed  to  the  de- 
velopment of  our  young  minds.  Yet  our  life  was  passed 
in  the  ordinary  duties  belonging  to  our  humble  rank  and 
position.  Our  active  father,  who  was  still  in  the  vigour 
of  his  age,  rightly  required  of  us  the  same  labour  and 
exertion  that  he  himself  had  been  obliged  to  undergo ; 
and  he  was  pleased  if  from  our  own  impulse  or  out  of 
worthy  emulation  we  laid  upon  ourselves  severities  or 
hardships  which  he  had  not  ordered. 

In  harvest-time,  when  many  active  hands  were  needed, 
we  boys  were  often  driven  out  of  bed  an  hour  or  two 
before  the  sun,  and  were  sent  to  drive  out  the  oxen  or 
ride  out  with  the  horses  before  school  hours,  and  we 
often  spent  the  whole  day  in  such  pastoral  occupations. 

Karl  was  again  at  home,  having  exchanged  the  mer- 
chant's life,  for  which  he  had  been  intended,  for  that  of 
a  farmer,  and  sometimes  if  there  were  young  foals  to  be 
broken  in,  or  horses  to  be  ridden  into  the  water,  he  and 
I  were  set  upon  them  :  if  we  were  going  into  the  water, 
quite  naked,  while  my  father  stood  behind  us  on  the 
bank  with  his  cracking  whip.  I  remember  once  being 
thus  set  stark  naked  to  ride  an  unmanagable  beast 
through  a  pond,  and  being  thrown  off,  on  coming 
out,  into  a  bed  of  nettles  and  thorns,  by  which  my  skin 


48  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1780—86. 

suffered  considerably  I      On  such  occasions  it  ^vas  not 
safe  to  look  sulky. 

Bathing  in  the  sea,  fishing  in  the  numerous  ponds  and 
ditches  of  the  inundated  fields  for  carp,  cray-fish,  and 
crabs,  pike  and  eels  ;  trapping  birds  in  autumn  in  our 
own  wood,  sledging  and  skating,  such  were  the  ordinary 
amusements  of  our  happy  country  life. 

But  amid  all  these  country  occupations,  labours,  and 
pastimes,  we  were  always  kept  rigidly  to  hours.  We 
drove  a  thriving  trade  in  pigeons,  and  kept  bird-traps 
set  in  our  wood,  which,  as  the  Baltic  swarms  with  every 
kind  of  birds  of  passage,  often  gave  us  hundreds  of 
fieldfares  and  thrushes ;  sometimes  also  other  more 
brightly-coloured  birds  were  taken  alive  and  put  in 
cages.  But,  at  eight  o'clock  precisely,  lessons  must 
bes[in.  So  Fritz  and  I  used  to  run  out  to  our  snares  in 
the  early  morning  in  October  and  November,  often  in 
most  tremendous  rain  and  snow-storms,  to  see  what  had 
been  caught,  and  to  re-arrange  whatever  had  been  dis- 
ordered by  wind,  rain,  or  mischievous  boys.  Then  if  we 
came  in  and  sat  down  to  breakfast  covered  with  snow 
or  wet  through,  and  with  our  teeth  chattering,  we  had 
plenty  of  feminine  pity,  but  my  father  would  laugh  and 
applaud  us  for  not  caring  about  weather. 

But  it  must  not  be  thought  that  my  father  was  a  hard 
man.  He  was  by  nature  kind  and  gentle,  but  he  thought 
according  to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  and  it  was  a  good 
fashion — that  a  boy  who  would  one  day  have  plenty  of 
rough  work  should  not  be  packed  up  in  cotton  wool. 
Yet  he  was  not  one  of  those  fathers  who  make  frequent 
use  of  the  stick.     I  seldom  felt  it  from  him,  but  for  the 


JET.  10—16.]  Laughter.  49 

last  well-merited  punishment  which  I  received,  when  I 
was  fifteen,  I  have  to  thank  the  "  Asmus  omnia  sua 
secum.  ^- 

My  father  had  come  home  tired  from  Stralsund,  irri- 
tated by  some  vexatious  losses,  and  had  gone  early  to 
bed.  I  and  my  brother  Lorenz,  the  fourth  in  the  family, 
were  sitting  in  the  next  room,  reading  the  song  of 
Giant  Goliath,  and  continually  breaking  out  into  a  dan- 
gerous giggle.  Twice  my  father  bade  us  be  quiet  and 
advised  us  to  go  to  bed,  and  when  we  burst  out  laughing 
for  the  third  time,  he  broke  in  and  checked  the  over- 
flow of  our  spirits  with  a  thick  stick. 

Indeed,  in  my  young  days,  I  had  a  most  unlucky 
habit  of  giggling  and  laughing,  and  always  had  to  be 
particularly  careful.  I  never  noticed  the  failing  in  my 
brother  Fritz.  He  used  to  smile  when  I  and  the  rest 
w^ould  have  burst  into  loud  laughter.  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  is  true,  as  the  son  of  Sirach  has  it  :  "A  fool 
lifteth  up  his  voice  with  laughter,  but  a  wise  man  doth 
scarce  smile  a  little  ;"  but  I  do  know  that  an  exalted 
mind  generally  scarcely  smiles  when  most  would  laugh. 
I  have  often  studied  Goethe's  face,  and  I  should  think 
that  he  could  only  smile. 

*  The  poet,  Matthias  Claudius,  otherwise  known  as  the  Wandsbecker 
Bote,  bom  at  Rheinfeld,  in  Holstein,  1 740.  He  passed  nearly  the  whole 
of  his  life  at  Wandsbeck,  near  Hamburg,  where  he  published,  from 
1770-1775,  apolitical  journal  under  the  title  of  the  "  \Yandsbecker  Bote." 
He  died  in  the  house  of  his  son-in-law,  Perthes,  in  1S15.  An  edition  of 
his  works,  which  he  published  under  the  title  of  "Asmus  omnia  sua  secum 
portans,"  obtained  for  him  this  nickname. 


CHAPTER  III. 


SCHOOL-DAYS. 


The  Gymnasium  at  Stralsund.— Removal  of  his  father  to  Lobnitz.— Runs 
away  from  School. 

I  HAD  now  entered  upon  my  seventeenth  year,  and  my 
parents  could  not  afford  to  let  my  studies  go  on  any 
longer.  But  it  happened,  through  the  help  of  strangers 
and  probably  at  the  suggestion  and  request  of  Herr 
Stenzler  and  Herr  Brunst,  that  I  was  suddenly  sent  to 
the  Grammar  School  at  Stralsund. 

Several  patrons,  who  wished  to  remain  unknown,  made 
a  subscription  for  this  object,  and  in  the  February  of 
1787,  I  was  entered  in  the  Secunda  of  that  school,  and 
took  up  my  abode  with  the  con-rector,  Herr  Furchau. 
This  was  a  plunge  for  me.  The  poor,  shy,  country  boy 
appeared  in  the  shabbiest  of  attire  among  the  smart  city 
youths,  elegant  in  their  way,  and  of  the  best  families  in 
the  Pomeranian  capital. 

My  everyday  coat  was  a  green  one  of  home  manufac- 
ture, and  for  best  I  had  a  grey  plush,  made  somewhat 
too  large  by  the  country  tailor,  out  of  an  old  coat  of  my 
father's,  and  with  boots  to  match  from  the  lasts  of 
Master  Silverstorp  of  Rambin.  I  leave  to  imagination 
how  the  fine  city  peacocks  clustered  curiously  round  the 


JET.  17 — 19.]       Stralsund  Grammar  School.  51 

poor  country  crow,  and  how  at  first  the  crow  was  much 
abashed.  But  necessity  can  break  through  iron  bars  ; 
and  when  some  of  them  ventured  to  touch  me  some- 
what roughly,  I  felt  my  hasty  Arndt  blood  begin  to 
boil,  and  a  couple  of  them  soon  lay  in  a  heap  at  my 
feet.  After  this  I  was  left  in  peace,  for  there  was  only 
one  in  the  whole  class  who  could  ever  stand  against  me  ; 
Asher,  afterwards  my  brother-in-law,  and  he  left  me  un- 
molested. 

The  class  had  been  very  much  neglected  during  the 
long  illness  of  the  sub-rector  Borheck,  who  was  just 
dead,  and  I  was  soon  on  a  par  with  the  best  scholars  in 
it.  True,  I  did  not  know  a  word  of  Greek,  but  there  was  no 
one  in  the  Secunda  who  could  have  made  any  figure  in 
that  language. 

After  the  sub-rector's  death,  the  instruction  of  this 
class  was  carried  on  in  a  desultory  manner  by  the 
teachers  of  the  Prima,  and  I  had  plenty  of  time  for 
private  instruction  in  Greek,  so  that  in  a  few  months  I 
had  overtaken  the  others.  In  the  spring,  the  new  sub- 
rector,  Herr  Ruperti,  arrived  from  Hanover,  and  soon 
raised  the  standard,  both  of  the  instruction  and  discipline 
of  the  Secunda.  I  spent  two  years  in  this  class,  and  one 
in  the  Prima,  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the 
best  and  most  industrious  scholars ; — which  is  not  saying 
much.  Not  that  I  would  find  fault  with  the  instruction, 
management,  or  regulations  of  the  school. 

It  was  certainly  a  better  period  in  the  history  of  the 
school  at  Stralsund  than  had  been  known  for  some  time 
The  authorities  belonged  to  the  magistracy  and   town 
council,    and    in   the  head,   Herr    Dinnies,    mayor    and 

4—2 


52  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1787—89, 


provincial  deputy,  a  learned  and  zealous  man,  they  had 
a  true  Musagetes.  The  rector,  Herr  Groskurd,  formerly 
director  of  the  German  Lyceum  at  Stockholm,  was  the 
incarnation  of  conscientiousness  and  order,  a  man  with  a 
special  talent  for  organisation.  If  his  method  appeared 
to  me  and  others  sometimes  to  savour  of  pedantry,  I  have 
since  become  convinced  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for 
a  man  altogether  to  avoid  acquiring  such  peculiarities 
after  a  certain  time.  Yet  Groskurd  was  in  no  sense  a 
confused  or  superannuated  teacher,  although  I  must  con- 
fess that  I  owe  more  to  the  better  method  of  his  two 
colleagues.  Both  of  these  were  at  the  happy  age  when 
a  teacher  by  the  elasticity  and  flexibility  of  his  mind 
exerts  the  most  effectual  and  advantageous  influence 
over  a  school.  Ruperti,  a  young  man  of  four-and-twenty, 
brought  with  him  a  good  store  of  knowledge,  and  a 
noble  enthusiasm  and  love  for  his  work.  Furchau,  the 
con-rector,  a  native  of  the  imperial  city  of  Bremen,  next 
in  authority  to  the  rector,  was  a  little  stout,  kindly  man 
of  about  thirty,  full  of  life  and  wit.  He  had  dipped  a 
little  into  all  branches  of  science,  had  a  considerable 
knowledge  of  philology  and  literature,  and  pursued  his 
studies  with  restless  industry.  He  was  a  man  of  taste, 
racy  humour,  and  keen  satire  ;  the  most  pleasant  and 
cheerful  of  companions  ;  the  master  of  a  splendid  style 
which  he  employed  in  clothing  Tacitus,  Sophocles,  and 
Homer  in  a  German  garb.  He  taught  both  the  ancient 
languages,  and  the  history  of  literature  in  the  Prima. 
Unfortunately,  however,  he  was  often  ailing,  so  that  miany 
of  his  lectures  were  lost  to  us.  I  lived  in  his  house,  and 
my  little  room  was  just  opposite  his  library.     It  used  to 


JET.  17—19-]  ^^i'-'  Masters.  53 

have  much  the  same  appearance  as  my  Httle  study  has 
now.     Most  of  the  books  were  on  the  shelves  certainly, 
but   in  perfect  confusion  ;  a  great  number,  particularly 
those  in  use  at  the  time  by  him,  lay  scattered  about  in 
disorder  on   the   tables,   chairs,  and   floor.     Yet   in   the 
midst  of  this  apparent  confusion  there  reigned  a  kind  of 
order,  for  he  could  find  any  book  he  wanted  in  a  moment. 
I  could  nibble  as  I  pleased  in  this  always  open  library, 
and  slip  in  whenever  I  wanted  anything,  as  the  con-rector 
became  an  intimate  friend  of  my  father's,  they  having 
many  friends  in    common    both  in  town   and   country. 
But  we  received  less  help  in  our  studies  from  Furchau 
than   from    Ruperti,   who  was  alwa3^s   ready  to    render 
assistance  to  any  industrious  scholar. 

Thus  there  was  no  want  of  life,  intellectual  activity, 
or  scholarship  at  that  time  in  the  school.  Yet  the 
philological  school  of  Heyne,  to  which  all  these  men 
belonged,  suffered  from  one  defect,  with  which  the  master 
himself  has  often  been  reproached,  that  of  neglecting  the 
teaching  of  forms  of  speech,  and  the  want  of  grammatical 
strictness.  Heyne  defended  himself  from  this  accusation 
by  calling  himself  a  poet-philologer,  implying  that  he 
did  not  trouble  himself  about  the  trivial  distinctions  of 
the  grammarian,  but  devoted  himself  rather  to  the  study 
of  the  inner  life  of  the  ancients,  to  the  search  after  the 
beautiful  and  the  formation  of  taste. 

For  the  first  year  and  a  half  of  my  residence  in 
Stralsund,  I  enjoyed  the  assistance  I  have  always  men- 
tioned, though  from  whom  it  came  I  have  never  been 
able  to  find  out.  Then  it  ceased,  for  my  father's  circum- 
stances had  in  the  meantime  greatly  improved.   Besides, 


54  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1787—89. 

there  were  more  tables  open  to  me  in  the  town  than  I 
required  ;  my  father  having  so  many  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances there,  that  they  used  almost  to  fight  for  me.  I 
could  dine  or  sup  out  whenever  I  pleased.  Invitations 
to  supper,  however,  I  did  not  always  accept,  for  they 
took  up  too  much  time,  and  I  preferred  some  bread  and 
butter  and  a  glass  of  water  or  beer  at  home.  This  was 
my  usual  breakfast  also,  and  so  it  continued  to  be  in 
after  years,  for  till  my  fortieth  year  tea  and  coffee  were 
luxuries  to  me.  But  later  the  domestic  comfort  of  my 
second  m.arriage  accustomed  me  to  these  dainties,  which, 
in  the  wisdom  of  advancing  age,  I  am  now  beginning  again 
to  renounce.  But  that  which  Fichte  himself  did  not  ven- 
ture to  exclude  from  his  model  commercial  town — wine, 
punch,  and  the  like — I  never  despised.  Brandy  I  took 
but  rarely,  and  then  in  small  quantities.  Indeed  I  seem 
intended  by  nature  for  a  Bacchanalian  life,  for  wine  has 
always  agreed  with  me  ;  but  a  cup  of  coffee  when  I  was 
young  would  make  my  blood  boil  directly  it  passed  my 
lips,  and  my  hand  tremble  so  that  I  could  scarcely  write 
an  intelligible  character  on  the  paper.  Nevertheless 
these  hospitable  tables  were  a  temptation  to  me.  At 
first  I  lost  a  good  deal  of  time  through  them,  but  that 
was  the  smallest  part  of  it.  The  chief  danger  for  a  lad 
of  seventeen  or  eighteen  was  the  too  rich  living.  They 
were  mostly  wealthy  and  considerable  houses  to  which 
I  was  invited,  and  the  hospitality  and  kindness  of  my 
friends  was,  after  the  fashion  of  the  country,  unlimited. 
In  those  days  the  mode  of  life  Avas  hearty  and  jovial, 
and  (though  political  storms  were  rumbling  in  the  dis- 
tance) regulated  by  the  most  careless   and  cheerful,  as 


yET.  17—19.]  Stralswid.  55 


well  as  the  most  artistic  and  aesthetic  taste.     And  here 
let  us  say  something  about  the  people. 

Stralsund  is  a  large  town,  made  famous  by  its  suftcr- 
ings  and  triumphs,  and  by  the  battles  of  Wallenstcin, 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  the  great  elec- 
tor, Charles   XII.,  and   the  old   Dessauer  Leopold  von 
Anhalt.     In  the  middle  ages  it  was — after  Danzig,  the 
old  capital  of  East  Pomerania — the  strongest  and  most 
splendid  town  in  Pomerania,  and  its  old  magnificence  is 
still  to  be  seen  in  its  market-places,  its  fine  town-hall, 
and  in  its  three  great  churches.     A  few  decades  after  its 
foundation,  in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  it 
threw  off  the  yoke  of  the  Princes  of  Riigen,  and  after- 
wards of  the  Dukes  of  Pomerania;  and  in  the  next  cen- 
tury became,  in  fact,  almost  a  free  imperial  city,  though 
nominally  still  dependent.      Much  isolated   by  its  fre- 
quent quarrels  with  the   princes  and  the  neighbouring 
.districts,  its  intercourse  was  limited  to  the  country  im- 
mediately ;'ound  its  walls,  or  at  best  to   some   parts  of 
the  island  of  Riigen  ;  so  that,  like  the  great  imperial  city 
of  Cologne,  it  had  formed  a  dialect  of  its  own,  which 
had    little    in    common    with    that    of   the    surrounding 
country,  and  which  betrays  itself  to  this  day  in  a  certain 
thinness  and  softness  of  accent,  little  in  accordance  with 
the  doughty,  robust  nature  of  its  citizens.    Like  the  other 
great  Swedish  Pomeranian  towns,  it  possessed^  from  the 
time  of  the  powerful  Hanseatic  League  to  our  own  revolu- 
tionary epoch,  great  and  important  privileges ;  and  very 
considerable    estates,    together   with    wide  jurisdiction, 
were  held  by  its  authorities  and  foundations   in   Riigen 
and  Pomerania.     It  remained  under  Swedish  rule  until 


56  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1787— 89. 

the  fall  of  the  Holy  Roman  German  Empire,  a  venerable 
ruin  of  antiquity,  with  a  certain  magnificence  of  its  own. 
These  relics  of  ancient  splendour,  at  the  time  of  which  I 
am  speaking,  presented  a  worthy  appearance.  The 
magistracy,  that  is  the  mayor  and  council,  appeared  in 
almost  regal  state  in  the  town  and  on  their  very  nume- 
rous estates,  and  almost  as  numerous  jurisdictions  ;  the 
different  city  councils  and  companies  conducted  them- 
selves towards  one  another  with  praiseworthy  reserve 
and  proper  sense  of  honour,  and  each  citizen,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  a  community  so  ancient  and  glorious,  trod  the 
pavement  of  his  street  with  a  greater  sense  of  dignity 
than  the  citizen  of  any  other  town  could  do.  Stralsund 
could  boast  of  a  fine  handsome  people,  and,  like  Corinth 
among  the  Greeks,  w^as  noted  for  its  beautiful  women, 
even  among  the  lower  classes.  A  fine  race  of  inhabi- 
tants is  indeed  to  be  found  in  Wolfgast  and  Barth,  and 
the  other  large  towns  of  Pomerania,  with  the  exception 
of  Greifswald,  which  has  bad  water  and  bad  air,  and 
consequently,  though  a  university  town,  bad  light. 

Pleasure  and  enjoyment  were  indeed,  as  I  have 
pointed  out,  made  the  chief  object  of  life  ;  few  people 
troubled  their  heads  to  inquire  for  a  higher,  or  the  highest 
kind  of  happiness,  or  to  consider  questions  and  doubts 
of  a  deeper  nature.  But  however  free  manners  might 
be,  sometimes  indeed  freer  than  was  right,  there  was 
enough  remaining  of  the  old  faith  and  truth  and  of 
somewhat  stiff,  though  seemly  forms  and  customs,  to 
preserve  at  least  an  outward  decorum.  Certain  blemishes 
were  amply  redeemed  by  the  universal  decency,  up- 
rightness and  kindliness.     There  was,  nevertheless,  one 


/ET.  17—19.]  Society.  57 

great  evil,  the  Swedish  Pomeranian  cjarrison,  which  how- 
ever  was    absent    during-   the    chief    part    of    my    stay 
there,    on    account    of    the    Russo-Swedish    War.     The 
officers  were  mostly  Swedes  and  Pomeranians,  together 
with     some     Mecklenburg    nobles  ;    but    the    common 
soldiers  were  a  rabble  brought  together  from  all  parts  of 
the  world.     In  the  neighbouring  territory  of  Prussia  the 
evil    was    not    so    great,   a   more   respectable    set  being 
drawn    by  the    conscription    from    its    own    territories. 
But  in  Stralsund   the  evil   seemed  incurable,  and   most 
injurious  to  the  morals  of  the  place  ;  and  the  two  regi- 
ments of  infantry,  with  a  division  of  artillery,  engineers, 
and  pioneers,  were  a  cancer  in  the  healthy  flesh  of  the 
community.     To  this  we  must  add  the  constant  annoy- 
ance that  the  greater  part  of  the  officers  were  cut  off 
from    the    better   society    of  the    place    by   their   own 
insolence  and  arrogance.     However,  I  was  initiated  into 
the  best  society  of  the  place,  and   enjo}-ed   it  only  too 
well ;  particularly  when  m.y  father,  or  my  old  uncle  from 
Posewald,  or  other  friends  came  to  town  for  business  or 
pleasure,  and  then  from  all  the  friends  in  the  neighbour- 
hood invitations  would   pour  in  to  dinner  and  supper, 
when  the  entertainment  would  be  protracted  late  into  the 
night.     Yet  I  did  not  fritter  away  my  time  in  gay  and 
frivolous  pleasures,  nor  in  a  course  of  revelry  and  dissi- 
pation, but  kept  my  object  steadily  in  view,  and  was 
usually  too  serious  and  reserved  ever  to  be  accused  of 
lightness  or  frivolity.     In  the  last  two  3'ears  of  my  life 
at  Grabitz,  events  had  occurred  in  my  family,  the  story 
of  which  would  be  out  of  place  here,  but  which  left  a 
deep  impression  on  my  mind,  and  the  effect   of  which 


58  Life  of  Anidt.  [a.d.  1787— 89. 

lasted  for  many  years,  and  is  perhaps  not  even  yet  quite 
effaced.  Thus  I  came  to  Stralsund  very  deeply  im- 
pressed, and  with  many  strong  resolutions,  to  which  I 
was  never  unfaithful.  I  was  healthy,  strong  and 
.vigorous,  and  determined  to  remain  so  at  any  price. 
From  all  the  enjoyments  of  the  cheerful,  self-indulgent 
life  at  Stralsund,  and  from  all  the  pleasures  at  Lobnitz, 
where  my  parents  now  lived,  I  tore  myself  away,  and 
returned  to  school  and  to  the  hardships  and  privations 
to  which  I  voluntarily  subjected  myself  I  entered 
school  a  shy,  innocent,  uncorrupted  boy,  and  I  prayed 
and  struggled  to  remain  unsullied  and  undepraved  the 
more  earnestly,  when  I  perceived  that  there  was  among 
the  elder  scholars  more  than  one  frivolous  and  disso- 
lute lad,  who  would  scoff  at  and  ridicule  such  a  dismal 
and  gloomy  fellow  as  I  often  appeared  to  them.  All 
the  woods  and  shores  for  miles  round  Stralsund  have 
often  echoed  to  the  sound  of  my  footsteps  during  my 
long  walks,  or  when  I  was  hastening  to  bathe,  even  in 
October  or  November,  But  the  hours  which  were  spent 
in  such  expeditions,  or  in  company,  had  to  be  made  up 
by  others  stolen  from  sleep.  Thank  God  I  needed  little 
rest,  but  perhaps  I  should  have  felt  the  want  of  it  more 
if  I  had  not  been  very  sensible  how  good  a  severe 
and  ascetic  life  was  for  me.  Thus  the  lonely  scholar 
wandered  about  the  fields  and  woods  during  the 
years  1787-88-S9,  comforting  himself  with  the  words 
of  Horace,  "  Hoc  tibi  proderit  olim  ;"  and  the  saying 
came  true.  Through  the  mist  and  gloom  the  sun  at  last 
broke  forth. 

Yet  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  I  was  alwa}-s  lonely 


JET.  1 7 19.1  Schoolfdloics.  59 

and  sad.  Xo ;  I  had  my  own  friends,  and  very  dear 
ones.  Similar  tastes  in  study  united  me  chiefly  to  Karl 
Asmund  Rudolphi,*  the  son  of  a  poor  clergyman's  widow, 
who  kept  a  little  girls'  school  ;  and  to  Johann  Arnold 
Pommeresche,  whose  father,  a  royal  privy  councillor  and 
procurator  fisci,  was  my  special  patron  and  benefactor. 
I  also  numbered  amongst  my  companions,  the  amiable 
and  gifted  Friedrich  Reincke,  in  later  years  my  most 
faithful  friend  ;  Johann  Jakob  Griimbke,  Ernst  von 
Gagern,  Bernhard  Cummerow,  and  Johann  Israel. 

There  v.as  no  want  of  skating,  playing  at  bowls_, 
sleighing  and  walking,  with  such  comrades,  and  some- 
times we  made  pleasant  expeditions  to  the  isle  of  Riigen, 
or  visits  with  one  or  another  to  my  parents  at  Lobnitz. 
My  brother  Fritz,  too,  came  to  the  school  after  I  had 
been  there  two  years,  entering  the  Prima  at  once,  and  he 
had  a  room  close  to  mine.  Our  roads,  however,  lay  in  dif- 
ferent directions  ; — not  that  I  mean  he  took  a  wrong  one. 
Lorenz  Stenzler,  son  of  the  pastor  at  Gartz,  also  joined 
us.  I,  as  the  eldest  of  the  three,  and  an  old  schoolboy, 
was  expected  to  help  them,  and  did  so  ;  but  Fritz,  who 
soon  won  a  great  reputation,  needed  such  help  but 
little. 

The  following   characteristic  picture  of  school-life  at  Stral- 
sund  is  taken  from  one  of  Amdt's  later  writings  : 


*  Karl  Asmund  Rudolphi,  the  well-known  naturalist  and  physiologist, 
was  born  in  Stockholm  and  educated  in  the  Gymnasium  at  Stralsund  and 
the  University  of  Greifswald,  in  which  he  obtained  a  professorship  during 
the  French  occupation.  His  chief  work,  "  Entozoorum  Historia  Naturalis," 
obtained  him  great  reputation,  and  in  iSiohe  became  Professor  of  Anatomy 
and  Physiology  in  the  University  of  Berlin.     He  died  in  1832. 


6o  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1787—89. 

A,  B,  C,  D,  boys  belonging  to  the  Prima  of  the 
Stralsund  Gymnasium,  had  been  at  a  party  where 
several  ghost  stories  and  extraordinary  adventures  had 
been  related  ;  and  on  their  way  home,  began  discussing 
the  apparitions  which  were  said  to  haunt  the  school-house, 
particularly  the  German  class-room.  A,  who  wanted 
to  pass  for  an  esprit  fort,  said,  scoffingly,  "  Pshaw,  for  your 
ghosts  !  I  could  sleep  quietly  among  the  old  Swedes, 
whom  the  porter's  wife  sees  so  often  wound  in  their 
shrouds,  and  no  ghost  would  touch  a  hair  of  my  head." 
In  short,  as  usually  happens,  they  talked  till  the  others 
not  wishing  to  be  thought  worse  of  than  A,  the  follow- 
ing compact  was  agreed  to.  They  were  to  draw  lots,  i, 
2,  3,  4,  and  in  the  order  as  the  numbers  fell,  each  was  to 
pass  a  night  in  the  ill-famed  class-room  ;  and  if  any  one 
hesitated  or  turned  coward,  he  was  to  pay  the  forfeit  of 
a  bowl  of  punch  and  a  ducat  to  each  of  the  others. 

The  legend  of  the  Swedes  in  their  shrouds  in  the  class- 
room had  arisen  in  the  following  manner.  The  Stral- 
sund school-house  was  a  part  of  the  ancient  convent  of 
S.  Catherine,  and  contained  long  passages  and  ante- 
rooms. In  the  middle  was  a  large  hall  with  pillars, 
which  was  used  as  a  play-room  between  school-hours, 
and  went  by  the  name  of  the  German  class-room.  It 
had  been  used  as  a  Swedish  hospital  in  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  and,  naturally,  many  deaths  had  occurred  in  it. 
Hence  the  midnight  walks  of  the  shrouded  Swedes. 

The  four  schoolboys  cast  lots  for  their  different 
nights,  and  gained  over  the  porter.  At  eleven  o'clock  he 
shut  in  the  boy  whose  turn  it  was,  and  let  him  out  at 
early  dawn  ;  and,  that  there  might  be  no  deception,  it 


^T.  17—19.]  A  Nocturnal  Adventure.  61 


was  done  in  the  presence  of  one  of  the  other  three.  A 
bed  was  made  up  on  one  of  the  window-seats,  and  v/as 
removed  quite  early,  that  none  of  the  masters  might  dis- 
cover it. 

B  and  D  got  through  their  nights  quietly  and  com- 
fortably, and  the  third  fell  to  A's  lot,  the  originator  of 
this  nocturnal  scheme;  a  strong,  vigorous,  fearless  fellow. 
He  had  undressed  in  peace,  and  was  sitting  up  comfort- 
ably in  bed  with  the  clothes  drawn  round  him,  smokine 
his  pipe  in  the  dark,  the  inner  court  of  the  convent  being 
lighted  up  only  by  the  summer  m.oon.  While  he  was 
thus  dreamily  puffing  at  his  pipe,  waiting  for  sleep  to 
come,  he  heard  a  low  murmuring  over  his  head,  which 
gradually  became  clearer  and  clearer,  and  it  may  easily 
be  imagined  how  he  opened  his  ears  and  eyes. 

Now  it  must  be  understood  that  the  old  convent  was 
put  to  many  different  uses.  The  eastern  side,  besides 
the  church  and  some  other  little  buildings,  contained  the 
arsenal.  The  lower  part  of  the  rest  of  the  building 
was  used  as  class-rooms  and  lecture-rooms,  and  as  apart- 
ments for  some  of  the  professors,  while  the  whole  upper 
part,  exactly  over  the  head  of  the  sleeper,  had  been  for 
centuries  used  as  a  prison,  and  was  now  full  of  criminals. 
So  A  heard  the  muttering  and  whispering  going  on 
above  him,  and  could  not  help  listening. 

Whether,  when  he  first  heard  it,  he  thought  of  the  dead 
Swedes,  or  the  living  malefactors,  he  never  said.  Probably 
during  the  first  few  moments  he  could  not  think  at  all,  and 
could  only  tremble  and  shake.  So  he  lay  listening  and 
quaking  and  looking  up  at  the  place  whence  the  sounds 
came,  and  at  last  his  terrified   eyes  perceived — what  '^. 


62  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1787—89. 


— a  man  swinging  in  the  air  by  a  rope,  and  being  slowly 
let  down  into  the  inner  court ;  then  another,  a  third,  a 
fourth,  a  fifth,  and  still  the  number  grew. 

This  lasted  about  an  hour,  and  so  did  the  suspense  of 
the  imprisoned  boy  ;  but  then  his  anxiety  increased,  for 
the  fellows  held  a  consultation  in  the  court,  on  which  side 
of  it  they  should  break  through  the  high  old  windows. 
Then  they  tried  all  the  four  on  A's  side,  and  even  the 
one  in  the  embrasure  of  which  he  lay.  He  cowered 
down  under  the  clothes,  and  heard  them  say  that  it 
would  be  easiest  to  break  through  on  that  side.  And 
they  really  succeeded  in  breaking  into  the  German 
class-room  by  a  wnndow  not  far  from  his,  where  they 
again  stopped  to  consult,  but,  fortunately,  with  their  at- 
tention entirely  directed  to  a  window  on  the  west  side 
of  the  hall,  which  opened  into  the  rector's  garden.  For, 
if  they  had  discovered  him  in  his  bed,  they  would  prob- 
ably have  murdered  him. 

At  last  they  made  their  way  out  through  the  window 
over  the  garden  wall  into  the  town.  In  the  early  morn- 
ing, some  of  them  made  good  their  escape  by  concealing 
themselves  among  the  cattle  when  they  were  driven  out 
into  the  fields,  after  the  fashion  of  the  much-enduring 
Ulysses,  but  the  rest  were  one  after  the  other  tracked  to 
their  hiding-places  in  the  town  and  recaptured. 

A  passed  a  wakeful  night  of  anxiety  and  fear,  for  even 
after  they  had  vanished,  he  was  still  in  terror  lest  the  rope 
should  let  down  more  fugitives  over  his  head.  At  last 
the  porter  came  to  let  him  out.  The  joke  ended  here. 
C,  the  last  of  the  four  confederates,  was  let  off  the  ordeal.'* 


'  Erinnerungen  Gesichte  Geschichten. 


JET.  17—19.]  Lob  nit:;.  G}) 

It  was  well  for  me  that  my  home  always  remained 
the  centre  of  my  affections,  and  though  many  places 
and  people  welcomed  me  kindly,  no  place  attracted  me 
so  strongly.  The  household  and  everything  belonging 
to  it,  soon  after  my  departure  to  Stralsund,  had  settled 
in  a  much  larger  place  on  the  mainland  to  the  north- 
west. My  father  had  become  the  tenant  of  the  Lobnitz 
estate,  which  consisted  of  several  farms  and  villages, 
about  three  miles  (German)  from  Stralsund,  on  the  high- 
road between  Stralsund  and  Rostock.  This  property 
also  belonged  to  the  domain  of  Putbus,  which  Avas  then 
under  the  management  of  the  widowed  Countess  zu 
Putbus^  Wilhelmine  Countess  von  der  Schulenburg,  as 
guardian  for  her  sons,  the  children  of  the  late  Count 
Malte  zu  Putbus.  It  was  through  the  influence  which  our 
patriarch  Hinrich  had  with  the  widowed  countess  that  my 
father  obtained  this  farm.  This  great  charge  was  offered 
to  him  at  a  very  advantageous  moment.  The  French 
Revolution  and  other  events  of  the  time  sent  up  the  price 
of  corn  for  many  years  to  an  unusual  height,  and  who- 
ever had  land  under  cultivation  was  sure  of  large  profits. 

The  place  somewhat  resembled  Schoritz,  although  the 
blessed  sea  was  wanting.  Like  it,  Lobnitz  was  a  neg- 
lected beauty,  whose  bloom  had  certainly  in  part  disap- 
peared, but  its  youth  had  surely  much  outshone  that  of 
Schoritz.  It  had  been  a  seat  of  the  counts  of  Schwerin. 
The  father  of  my  patron  and  friend,  the  Swedish  general, 
Count  Philipp  Schwerin,  had  once  lived  there.  After  his 
death  his  sons  sold  their  Pomeranian  estates  to  Count 
Malte  zu  Putbus.  It  was  still  a  very  beautiful  place,even  in 
its  departing  glories.     The  house,,  with  its  two  handsome 


64  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  17S7— 89. 


wings,  contained  two  large  halls  and  more  than  twenty 
rooms,  of  which  some  were  bordered  and  wainscoted 
with  gilding,  hung  Avith  silk  tapestry,  and  had  beautifully 
carved  chimney-pieces,  and  others  were  ornamented 
with  gilded  hangings,  on  which  were  represented  the 
warlike  deeds  of  Charles  XII.,  or  the  adventures  of  the 
Knieht  of  the  Sorrowful  Countenance.  A  colonel,  Count 
Schwerin,  who  had  built  the  house,  was  one  of  the 
champions  of  the  great  Swedish  king,  and  the  cousin  of 
the  famous  Prussian  marshal.  The  house  stood  among 
green  meadows,  on  a  sandy  hill,  and  beneath  it  stretched 
the  pleasure  garden,  traversed  by  a  deep  brook  with 
linden  alleys,  summer-houses,  clipped  hedges  and 
grottos,  all  in  the  style  of  1740  and  1750.  At  the  end 
of  the  garden  was  a  little  Olympus,  on  which  stood 
wooden  figures  of  the  dei  majorum  et  minorum  gen- 
tium, and  from  which  a  pretty  view  of  the  town  of 
Barth  and  of  the  church  towers  of  the  neighbouring 
villasres  mieht  be  obtained.  Near  the  house,  and  close 
by  the  stream,  there  was  a  summer-house  covered  with 
ivy  and  jasmine,  which  was  called  the  Queen's  Grotto. 
Here,  as  the  old  gardener  Benzin  would  tell,  the 
Swedish  Queen  Ulrike  Luise,  mother  of  Gustavus  III., 
and  sister  of  Frederick  II.,  would  often  come  for  fresh 
air  in  the  summer-time.  In  the  house  the  rooms  were 
pointed  out,  with  gilded  wainscot  and  green  silk  tapestry, 
in  which  she  had  lived  and  slept.  She  resided  there  for 
some  months  together,  during  the  time  when  her  husband 
was  carrying  on  a  desperate  contest  with  his  parliament, 
and  when  the  father  of  General  Philipp  Schwerin, 
Swedish  Reichsherr  and  president  of  the  high  court  of 


^T.  17—19.]  Death  of  a  Sister.  65 


Wismar,  was  possessor  of  Lobnitz.  Besides  this  garden 
there  were  two  well-planted  orchards,  with  meadows 
round,  and  some  beautiful  oak  woods  like  the  Liilo  at 
Schoritz  ;  and  to  replace  the  Krewe,  a  grove  at  some  dis- 
tance containing  the  ruins  of  an  old  castle,  the  haunts 
of  ghosts  and  witches,  and  mysterious  beings  of  all 
kinds,  and  a  little  farther  a  large  magnificent  beech  forest. 
The  brook,  the  pride  and  joy  of  the  garden,  after  a 
course  of  half  a  mile,  ran  into  the  river  Barth,  which 
about  a  couple  of  hours  distance  ofT  falls  into  the  sea 
near  the  town  of  that  name.  It  is  never  anything  but  a 
small  stream,  but  a  very  pleasant  one,  full  of  fish  and 
other  creatures,  and  offering  us  many  opportunities  of 
bathing  in  summer. 

Here  my  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters  had  settled 
very  comfortably,  but  their  new  home  was  soon  darkened 
by  sorrow.  j\Iy  little  sister  Caroline,  a  very  lovely  child 
of  three  years  old,  died  of  quinsy,  to  my  especial  grief; 
but  the  next  summer  God  gave  us  instead  of  her  another 
little  girl,  the  last  of  the  family,  who  made  up  for  many 
troubles  and  losses.  On  which  account  she  was  named 
Dorothea,  the  gift  of  God. 

Lobnitz  was  about  three  miles'^  from  Stralsund,  miles 
which,  as  the  common  saying  goes,  the  fox  has  measured, 
adding  his  tail.  However,  my  Spartan  bringing  up  had 
given  me  fox's  legs,  and  I  have  often  done  the  distance 
in  four  good  hours. 

This  was  generally  on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  I  re- 
turned to  school  early  on  JMonday  morning,  sometimes 

*  He  is  probably  using  here  the  long  German  mile,  which  is  equal  to 
5f  English  ones. 


06  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1787—89, 


by  any  chance  means  that  offered  itself,  sometimes  being 
driven  by  my  father  half  way.     There  were  many  chance 
lifts  to  be  had  both  in  summer  and  winter.  First,  there  Avas 
the  Hamburg  mail,  which  pas.sed  close  to  our  house,  but 
which  went  at  a  snail's  pace,  and  stopped  at  every  village 
and  every  inn.     Then  on  my  father's  farm   there  were 
three    or    four    so-called    Hollander   or   dairy-men,  and 
several  millers  and  smiths,  who  used  to  go  backwards 
and  forwards  to  the  capital  with  their  wares.     Thirdly, 
in  autumn  or  winter  there  were  often  ten  or  twelve  four- 
horse  waggons   on   the  road,  laden  with   rye  or  wheat. 
These  used  generally  to  start  about  two  or  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  stopping  on  the  way  to  bait,  used  to 
arrive  between  seven  and  eight,  so  that  I  reached  school 
in  plenty  of  time.     I  used  to  lie  on  the  well-filled  sacks 
wrapped  up  in  an  old  cloak  of  my  father's,  caring  little 
how  it  might  rain  or  snow,  sometimes  watching  the  stars 
twinkling  over  my  head  ;  and  still  the  sight  of  the  winter 
stars  Pleiades,  Arcturus, Orion,  make  me  reflect  how  many 
of  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  the  boy  who  used  to  count  the 
hours  by  them  have  passed  away,  while  they  still   run 
their    eternal    course.      The    school  holidays   naturally 
were  almost  always  passed    with    my  parents,    though 
sometimes   a    week    might  be   given    to   Posewald   and 
Putbus. 

The  autumn  of  1789  arrived.  The  usual  recitations 
and  examinations  were  over.  My  father  was  present,, 
and  I,  among  others,  had  received  public  commendation; 
but  I  was  to  stay  another  year,  much  to  my  satisfaction, 
in  the  Prima.  About  a  dozen  of  the  Prima  boys  were 
going  that  autumn  toGottingen,  Erlangen,andGreifswald, 


JET.  17—19.]      Rimning  aiuay  from  School.  6j 

Gottingen  being  the  favourite  university  for  boys  from 
the  district  of  the  Sound,  the  teachers  being  all  Gottingen 
men,  and  for  several  days  there  was  nothing  but  invita- 
tions and  carouses.  I  suppose  this  was  too  much  for  me. 
I  fell  into  an  extraordinary  state  of  agitation  and  self- 
conflict,  and  I  felt  convinced  that  if  I  stayed  any  longer 
at  school,  I  should  turn  into  a  weak,  dissolute  wretch. 
But  what  else  was  I  to  do  1  I  might  perhaps  become  a 
farmer,  or  get  a  situation  to  write  and  do  accounts  for  a 
farmer.  I  did  not  myself  know  what  to  think,  or  even 
what  I  wanted.  However,  one  fine  afternoon  I  walked 
out  by  the  Frankenthor,  where  Charles  XII.  once  had 
slept  on  straw  in  a  niche  in  the  wall.  That  morn- 
ing I  had  been  transacting  some  business  for  my 
father.  Among  other  things  I  had  received  four 
hundred  thalers  for  him,  which  I  had  duly  transmitted 
to  him.  I  had  about  ten  or  twelve  thalers  in  my  pocket, 
and  with  these,  and  my  best  clothes,  and  a  bundle  of 
linen  under  my  arm,  I  set  off,  having  written  to  my 
father,  in  the  agitated  state  of  my  mind,  as  pathetic  a 
letter  as  if  I  was  starting  for  the  North  Cape  or  the 
Straits  of  Magellan.  I  went  along  the  high-road  which 
leads  to  Greifswald,  into  a  part  of  the  country  towards 
the  south,  in  which  I  had  never  set  foot  before.  It  was 
somewhere  about  the  first  few  days  of  October.  As  it 
grew  dark  it  began  to  rain.  I  arrived  at  a  village  where 
there  was  no  inn,  so  entering  a  shepherd's  house,  I  asked 
for  a  night's  lodging.  The  people  looked  at  me  in  sur- 
prise, but  took  me  in,  and  as  they  had  no  bed,  gave  me 
some  pillows  and  a  rug  in  the  hay-loft,  where  I  wrapped 
myself  up  and  slept  like  a  king,  for  the  night  before  I 

5—2 


58  Life  of  Anidt.  [a.d.  1787— 89. 


had  spent  in  a  farewell  carouse  with  my  dear  Reincke, 
though  I  was  awaked  several  times  by  half-a-dozen  cocks 
who  had  posted  themselves  on  the  beams  overhead. 

This  was  the  first  time  I  had  slept  among  perfect 
strangers— a  little  earnest  of  my  future  life.  The  next 
morning  I  saw  Greifswald  lying  before  me,  but  did  not 
venture  even  to  go  near  the  town,  lest  I  should  meet  one 
of  the  students  I  knew.  So  I  went  along  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rick,  keeping  towards  the  west  during  the  whole 
day,  sauntering  slowly  along  in  the  bea-utiful  sunny 
weather,  and  so  arrived,  though  I  do  not  know  the  v>-ay  I 
took,  at  a  little  village  on  the  Peene,  not  far  from 
Demmin,  where  I  passed  the  second  night. 

The  third  day  early,  passing  through  Demmin,  I 
crossed  the  Peene,  without  passport  or  papers,  but  no- 
body stopped  me.  I  thought  myself  now  far  enough 
from  home  to  set  about  trying  to  find  myself  employ- 
ment. So  I  went  along  the  Peene,  asking  at  several 
large  houses  and  farms  whether  they  did  not  want  a 
young  man  to  write  and  keep  accounts.  After  having 
been  refused  several  times,  I  came  in  the  afternoon  to 
Zemmin,  where  an  old  Captain  von  Parsenow  lived. 

On  my  asking  the  question,  he  received  me  very 
kindly,  ordered  them  to  bring  me  some  food  and  drink, 
and  showed  me  to  a  very  clean  little  bedroom.  After  a 
little  further  conversation  with  me,  he  said  I  pleased 
him  well,  and  that  he  would  gladly  keep  me  if  my 
father  consented,  but  I  must  write  to  him  and  wait  for 
his  answer. 

So  a  letter  was  sent  off  by  post  to  Lobnitz,  and  on 
the  fifth  day  instead  of  an  answer  came  my  brother 


JET.  17  — 19.J  Return  Home.  69 

Karl  and  my  uncle  Moritz  Schumacher,  who  was  at  that 
time  living  Avith  my  parents,  with  a  four-horse  waggon 
and  a  letter  from  my  father,  in  which  he  wrote  very 
kindly  that  I  had  better  come  home;  that  he  would  give 
me  the  freest  choice  whether  I  would  become  a  farmer 
or  a  student.  If  I  preferred  the  first,  I  could  not  learn 
farming  anywhere  better  or  more  conveniently  than 
under  his  guidance,  and  that  he  should  be  able  to  find 
me  plenty  to  do. 

I  was  very  glad  of  this  dcnoitemejit,  for  the  depression 
which  had  driven  me  away  from  Stralsund  had  soon  been 
dispersed  by  my  weary  v\^anderings  and  my  soldier-like 
night  quarters.  So  I  got  into  the  waggon  with  my  people^ 
and  the  following  afternoon  we  were  in  Lobnitz. 

Thus  I  left,  or,  if  you  like  it  better,  ran  away  from 
school,  apparently  without  any  motive.  But  in  the  con- 
flicting thoughts  and  feelings  which  overwhelmed  me, 
there  must  have  been  some  deeper  reason  than  I  can 
myself  understand.  For  on  the  days  just  before  my 
flight  I  had  been  particularly  merry  with  my  friends, 
and  especially  with  my  dear  Friedrich  Reincke.  What 
my  parents  thought  about  it  I  do  not  know ;  they  prob- 
ably vexed  themselves  a  good  deal  about  me,  for  how 
could  they  see  through  the  confusion  of  my  mind,  when 
I  myself  did  not  properly  understand  it  ?  That  they 
thought  any  ill  of  me,  I  do  not  believe.  They  knew  me 
well,  and  the  best  evidence  that  I  had  not  left  school  on 
account  of  anything  wrong,  or  for  any  wrong  purpose, 
lay  in  the  considerable  sum  which  I  had  cashed  for  my 
father  and  sent  to  him  untouched. 

But  the  world — the  public— made  a  fine  tale  of  it  : 


"O 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1789—91. 


talking  about  discreditable  love  affairs,  and  worse  things, 
which  no  young  man  ever  more  studiously  avoided  than  I. 
This  came  to  my  ears  at  last  in  a  most  roundabout  way. 
I  despised  it,  and  learned  then  and  many  times  after- 
wards in  the  course  of  my  life,  that  nothing  is  more 
foolish  and  childish  than  to  trouble  one's  self  about  the 
opinion,  favourable  or  unfavourable,  of  the  world  ;  or  for 
the  sake  of  it,  to  swerve  a  hair's  breadth  from  one's 
usual  path. 

My  parents  allowed  me  to  live  with  them  for  some 
weeks,  as  quietly  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  and  as  if 
I  were  only  spending  my  holidays  with  them.  Then 
my  father  spoke  to  me,  and  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that 
as  I  had  begun  to  study  I  should  stick  to  it,  to  which 
my  friends  and  brothers  agreed.  The  letters  of  my 
tutors  expressed  the  same  opinion  ;  Con-rector  Furchau 
saying  that  if  I  thought  my  health  obliged  me  to  live 
in  the  country.  I  could  study  there  perfectly  at  my  ease. 
This  last  proposal  Avas  a  bright  idea,  and  I  immediately 
adopted  it.  ]\Iy  clothes  and  books  were  fetched  from 
Stralsund.  Whatever  I  might  need  for  the  continuation 
of  my  studies,  books,  etc.,  my  tutors  and  other  friends 
promised  to  procure  for  me,  and  they  did  so.  And  in 
this  way  I  lived  at  Lobnitz  from  the  autumn  of  1789  to 
Easter  1791,  most  perfectly  at  my  ease  and  with  no 
relaxation  of  industry,  while  at  the  same  time  I  con- 
tinued to  subject  myself  to  physical  hardships  and 
severities.  I  slept  like  a  soldier  on  hard  boards  or  a 
heap  of  brushwood,  passed  the  night  sometimes  in  the 
open  air,  wrapped  in  my  cloak  and  stretched  on  the 
ground   under  a  tree  or  behind  a  haystack,  or  I   would 


JET.  19—21.]  Night-Qiiarters.  71 

walk  for  miles,  particularly  at  night,  starting  off  when 
the  others  went  to  bed,  all  for  the  purpose  of  inuring 
my  body  in  the  exuberance  of  its  strength  to  patience 
and  endurance.  My  parents  were  astonished  at  my 
conduct,  and  sometimes  troubled  about  it.  I  often  saw 
them  shake  their  heads  over  my  ways  and  doings,  but 
as  I  appeared  to  know  what  I  was  about,  and  did  not 
behave  like  a  fool,  they  did  not  interfere. 

It  happened  one  very  beautiful  summer  evening,  that 
I  had  been  with  my  parents  to  some  friends  at  Barth, 
where  there  had  been  no  want  of  cheerful  society — lovely 
girls,  dancing  and  wine.  After  midnight  our  four  horses 
drew  us  home  amid  the  pleasantest  fantasies.  My  blood 
was  boiling,  so  I  walked  about  for  an  hour  or  so  in  the 
garden,  and  then  wrapped  myself  up  in  my  cloak,  and 
prepared  to  pass  away,  if  possible  to  sleep  away,  the  last 
hours  of  the  night  in  the  open  air  in  the  fields  or  under 
a  tree.  My  eye  fell  upon  a  great  stack  of  corn  towering 
forty  or  fifty  feet  high,  which  had  not  yet  been  roofed 
in,  and  against  which  a  ladder  was  still  leaning.  I  ran 
quickly  up,  and  holding  conversations  with  the  stars  and 
with  the  pretty  girls,  that  is  with  their  memory,  fell  asleep. 

As  morning  dawned,  I  was  suddenly  startled  out  of 
my  sleep  by  the  flapping  of  a  stork.  I  sprang  up  as 
one  naturally  does  when  disturbed  in  an  unusual  bed, 
and  still  heavy  with  sleep  and  knowing  nothing  at  the 
moment  of  heights  and  depths,  or  even  where  I  was, 
I  was  stepping  out  carelessly,  when  something  under  my 
feet  gave  a  loud  squall — I  had  trodden  on  a  cat.  Her 
cry  woke  me  up  at  once,  and  I  opened  my  eyes,  I  was 
standing  at  the  very  edge  of  the  stack  ;  one  step  more 


72  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1789— 91. 

and  I  should  have  fallen  into  empty  space,  perhaps  into 
death.  I  learnt  at  least  not  to  choose  in  future  such 
breakneck  places  for  my  bed.* 

This  noteworthy  period  in  my  insignificant  life  was 
also  a  noteworthy  one  in  the  history  of  the  age.  The 
French  Revolution  was  beginning.  Not  a  great  event 
changing  the  character  of  the  age,  but  rather  its  natural 
outcome.  The  unconscious  self-complacency — in  great 
part  innocent,  though  luxurious,  the  chief  aim  of  which 
in  manners  and  art  was  comfort  and  elegance — was  ex- 
hausted, and  had  been  replaced  by  flaccidity  and  senti- 
mentality. Everywhere  in  fashion,  taste,  art,  science, 
theology,  philosophy,  there  arose  new  aims  and  aspira- 
tions ;  or,  at  least,  it  was  evident  that  the  old  state  of 
things  was  fast  passing  away.  At  the  same  time  a  new 
political  as  .veil  as  philosophical  agitation  began  to  be 
felt,  the  vibrations  of  which  made  themselves  perceptible 
from  the  hut  to  the  palace  with  inconceivable  rapidity 
and  vividness.  Even  in  the  narrow  circle  of  my  home, 
in  spite  of  the  firmness  and  constancy  which  seemed  to 
have  become  a  part  of  my  parents'  nature,  the  effects  of 
the  great  European  change  might  be  visibly  traced,  not 
indeed  at  once,  but  by  comparing  it  with  what  it  had 
been  five  years  before. 

My  father  had  undertaken  the  charge  of  Lobnitz  and 
its  belongings  for  eighteen  years,  and  he  passed  these 
eighteen  years  there  in  peace.  The  household  kept  up 
its  old  Rugen  character  for  friendliness  and  hospitality; 
indeed  the  circle  of  our  friends  was  enlarged  in  propor- 
tion to  the  improvement  in  our  circumstances,  and  as  the 

*  "  Erinnerungen  Gesichte  Geschichten." 


^T.  19—21.]  Home  Life.  73 

children  grew  up,  the  number  of  their  companions  in- 
creased. There  was  plenty  of  room  in  the  house,  and 
my  mother  could,  if  necessary,  make  up  twenty  beds. 

There  was  always  a  hearty  welcome,  and  our  friends 
enjoyed  coming,  for  my  father  understood  in  a  rare 
manner  how  to  unite  perfect  freedom  with  decorum,  and 
how  to  arrange  his  multifarious  business  so  that  nothing 
ever  seemed  to  go  wrong.  In  summer  he  always  rose 
with  the  sun,  in  winter  at  five  or  six  o'clock,  and  em- 
ployed his  time  till  breakfast  in  settling  his  accounts 
and  attending  to  the  most  pressing  business.  After 
breakfast  he  spent  some  hours  Avith  his  sons  and  head 
servants  in  the  management  of  the  farm,  after  which  he 
had  leisure  for  intellectual  society.  There  was  a  great 
deal  of  quiet  natural  religion  in  this  good  man,  and  in  a 
rolling  thunder-storm,  or  at  sunrise  and  sunset,  he  would 
sit  with  folded  hands  on  his  Olympus  for  hours  together 
in  silence,  gazing  reverently  into  infinity.  My  mother 
also  remained  unshaken  in  her  clear,  firm,  unaffected 
faith,  though  the  foundations  of  the  old  world  on  which 
she  had  been  accustomed  to  rest,  seemed  to  be  danger- 
ously undermined  and  to  be  giving  way. 

It  was  not  only  our  old  friends  and  neighbours  who 
came  in  and  out,  but  also  our  new  school  acquaintances, 
and  the  neighbouring  clergymen,  among  whom  w^as  good 
Pastor  Dankwardt  from  Bodenstede,  and  in  holiday-time 
our  worthy  tutors  from  the  Sound.  We  boys  were  be- 
ginning to  whet  our  bills  in  argument  and  disputes,  so 
that  there  was  no  want  of  intellectual  life,  and  our  interest 
in  passing  events  grew  keener  every  year,  though,  as  yet, 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  they  had  not  assumed  a  vio- 


74  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1789—91. 

lent  character.  I,  too,  shared  in  this  excitement^  not 
yet  enthusiastically,  though,  for  many  years,  I  had  been 
a  zealous  reader  of  newspapers  on  my  own  account,  as 
well  as  reading  them  aloud  for  the  benefit  of  other 
people. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

UNIVERSITY   LIFE   AND   TRAVELS. 

Goes  to  the  University  of  Greifswald,  then  to  Jena. — Travels  in  Germany, 
Italy,  France  and  Belgium. 

After  I  had  spent  a  year  and  a  half  very  pleasantly  at 
my  father's  house  at  Lobnitz,  I  entered  the  University  of 
Greifswald,  to  study  theology,  a  study  which  the  son  of  a 
farmer  or  pastor  naturally  takes  up  if  he  is  not  irreligious. 

I  spent  two  years  at  Greifswald.  In  theology  I 
studied  under  Dr.  Schlegel,  at  that  time  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  district,  a  learned  man,  but  rather  too 
extravagant  in  his  delivery.  The  Swede  Brismann,  a 
man  of  brilliant  intellect,  taught  natural  science  ;  and 
Muhrbeck,  another  Swede,  philosophy.  The  latter 
was  a  clear  thinker,  and  a  zealous  disciple  of  Wolf.  He 
had  a  splendid  style,  and  considerable  learning,  and  was 
full  of  vivacity  and  petulance.  His  voice  still  rings  in  my 
ears,  when  having,  as  he  thought,  torn  Kant  to  pieces, 
and  dispersed  him  to  the  four  winds,  he  would  break  out 
in  the  fire  of  his  philosophic  anger,  and  in  his  Swedish 
German,  "And  what  will  you  now,  Kant,  vir  juvenis  .?" 

History,  geography  and  languages,  for  which  there 
was  no  professor,  I  studied  hard  by  myself. 


J 6  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1793—94. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1793,  I  left  Greifswald  and 
went  to  Jena,  living  there  until  the  autumn  of  1794. 
Griesbach,  Schiitz,  Reinhold,*  Fichte,t  Ulrich,  I  must 
mention  among  my  teachers  there,  and  also  Paulus,  who, 
then  young  and  fresh,  had  not  been  teaching  long. 
Schiitz,  who  was  at  that  time  wrapped  up  in  his  "Journal 
of  Universal  Literature,"  made  his  lectures  rather  a 
secondary  occupation.  I  gained  no  very  clear  idea  of 
the  philosophy  about  which  everybody  was  raving,  and 
which  turned  many  a  weak  head  among  my  companions, 
but  Fichte  as  a  man  inspired  me  with  much  enthusiasm. 
Ulrich  was  vivacious,  witty,  and  clever,  and  lectured 
upon  the  history  of  philosophy  and  literature  more 
conscientiously  and  thoroughly  than  Reinhold  or  Schiitz, 
Tliere  was  nobody  but  Griesbach  for  history.  Old 
Heinrich  was  as  dry  and  monotonous  as  the  desert  of 
Sela,  and  Woltmann,  who  had  just  come  to  the  university, 
concealed  his  elegant  superficiality  under  high-sounding 


•  Karl  Leonhard  Reinhold,  born  1758,  at  Vienna,  and  educated  at  the 
Gymnasium  there.  He  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus,  but  in  17S3  joined 
the  Protestant  Church  at  Weimar,  and  married  the  daughter  of  Wieland. 
In  17S7  he  became  professor  of  philosophy  at  Jena,  and  died  at  Kiel,  1823. 

+  Johann  Gottlieb  Fichte,  born  1762,  the  son  of  a  weaver  in  Upper  Lusatia. 
His  remarkable  talents  attracted  the  attention  of  a  Baron  von  Miltitz,  who 
helped  him  in  his  education.  He  studied  at  Jena,  and  afterwards  at  Leip- 
zig, where  the  writings  of  Spinoza  engrossed  his  mind.  Rejecting  this 
philosopher  he  turned  to  Kant,  and  became  personally  acquainted  with  him 
at  Konigsberg,  and  by  his  recommendation  published  his  first  work,  which 
attracted  much  notice.  In  1794  he  became  professor  at  Jena,  where  his 
lectures  were  attended  by  overflowing  audiences.  In  1799  he  was  forced 
to  leave  Jena  on  account  of  his  religious  opinions.  He  was  received  at 
Berlin,  and  became  professor  in  the  new  university.  His  speeches  in 
1807-8  contributed  greatly  to  arouse  the  spirit  of  the  German  nation  against 
the  French.  He  died  of  fever  taken  from  his  wife,  who  had  herself  caught 
it  while  nursing  in  the  hospitals,  January,  1814. 


^T.  23-24.]  Student   Years. 


77 


words,  and  "  Schillered  "  perpetually  without  Schiller's 
noble  intellect. 

I  passover  mystudent  years  shortly,  becauscapparcntly 
they  had  no  particular  influence  on  my  development.  I 
went  on  in  my  old  way,  only  growing  gradually  freer  and 
more  light-hearted,  thank  God,  not  light-minded.  The 
good  example  of  my  father's  house  was  a  great  help  to 
me,  as  well  as  the  notion  by  which  I  was  entirely 
governed,  that  a  divinity  student  should  be  pure  and 
unspotted.  No  doubt  many  little  things  united  to  keep 
me  straight,  but  my  greatest  help  lay  in  God  and  my 
good  fortune,  which  is  God.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
I  led  the  life  of  a  hermit,  not  by  any  means.  I  lived 
and  enjoyed  myself  with  the  other  young  men  like  a 
German  student,  passing  many  a  merry  night  with  them, 
which  I  could  do  better  than  others  without  encroaching 
too  much  on  my  hours  of  industry,  as  I  needed  so  little 
sleep  ;  and  then  my  life  would  flow  on  again  in  a  quieter 
and  more  lonely  course.  However,  I  would  remark  once 
for  all,  lest  I  seem  to  boast  too  much  of  my  youth,  that 
youth  in  its  innocent  and  fantastic  idealism  has  arms 
against  temptation,  which  in  later  years  must  be  changed 
for  weapons  forged  on  quite  another  anvil. 

My  dear  brother  Fritz  passed  one  year  with  me  at 
Jena.  I  saw,  however,  very  little  of  him  ;  our  roads  ran 
too  far  apart.  If  1  sometimes  plunged  into  the  whirlpool 
of  youthful  enjoyment,  he  would  often  take  a  long 
course  of  it,  and  drink  the  pleasures  of  a  student's  life 
in  deep  draughts.  I  say  often,  for  this  strange  and 
richly  gifted  being  could  bear  solitude  much  better  than 
I,  and  would  sit  for  a  month  together  in  a  room  in  some 


yS  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1794—96. 

out-of-the-way  village  deep  in  his  books,  and  revelling 
in  the  classics  and  in  the  philosophy  of  Kant  and  Fichte. 
He  was  an  excellent  Latinist,  and  endowed  with  an 
extraordinary  memory,  which  supplied  him  impromptu 
with  anything  he  wanted  ;  an  exceedingly  clear  and  ready 
speaker,  on  which  account  he  often  took  part  in  public 
disputations,  when  people  were  astonished  that  he  whom 
they  so  seldom  saw  in  the  lecture-rooms,  and  who  was 
famous  only  through  his  sword,  should  show  himself  so 
ready  and  skilled  in  oinrd  scibili. 

I  journeyed  to  and  from  the  university  on  foot,  accord- 
ing to  my  old  practice,  and  made  many  other  expedi- 
tions in  the  sam.e  way,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  showing 
myself,  or  making  myself  a  strong  man,  but  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  country  and  people,  a  thirst  for  the 
knowledge  of  what  I  may  call  natural  history,  which  be- 
came day  by  day  more  and  more  of  a  passion  with  me. 
On  my  way  home  from  Jena,  I  wandered  through  Leipzig, 
Dessau,  Quedlinburg,  through  the  Hartz  Mountains,  and 
Brunswick,  as  far  as  Celle,  and  then  through  the 
Luneburg  Wood  by  the  mails  to  Hamburg,  where  I 
stayed  some  weeks  and  saw  Schroder  in  many  parts, 
especially  as  King  Lear. 

I  visited  Wandsbeck  and  saw  the  house  of  Asmus, 
but  not  himself — I  was  afraid  of  intruding  on  famous 
men,  and  did  too  little  in  that  way  where  most  do  too 
much.  Even  Goethe  I  had  only  seen  from  a  distance. 
Towards  the  end  of  October,  1794,  I  was  again  in 
Lobnitz. 

Here  I  passed  two  pleasant  years  teaching  my 
youngest  brother  and  sister,  and  studying  on  my  own 


^T.  24— 26.]         A    Candidate  of  Theology.  79 


account,  or  more  truly  recapitulating.  In  the  six  years 
which  had  passed  since  my  running  away  from  the 
Gymnasium  on  the  Sound,  when  I  became  my  own 
master,  I  had  devoured  all  kinds  of  mental  food,  and 
much  that  was  crude  and  worthless,  with  a  perfectly  raven- 
ous hunger,  like  other  eager  young  men.  In  fact,  I  had 
filled  myself  with  much  ill-digested  food.  All  this 
stock  of  information  began  to  rise  up,  like  islands  sunk 
in  the  sea  and  to  assume  definite  forms.  I  had  lono- 
been  like  one  in  the  twilight,  and  in  many  things  shall 
probably  always  remain  a  dreamer.  There  was  no  want 
of  the  stimulating  element  in  my  father's  country  home,  so 
these  two  years  passed  away  cheerfully  enough  for  the 
most  part. 

In  the  autumn  of  1796,  our  old  friend  Kosegarten  in- 
vited me  to  come  to  him.  For  several  years  he  had 
taught  as  rector  scholse  in  Wolgast,  and  had  then  been 
appointed  to  the  best  living  in  the  district,  that  of 
Altenkirchen,  on  the  Wittow.  He  wanted  me  to  teach 
his  children,  though  they  were  really  too  young  for  in- 
struction, and  I  was  glad  to  go  to  him^  for  he  had  an 
excellent  library. 

I  was  now  a  candidate  of  theology,  having  been  put 
through  an  indescribably  easy  examination  by  Schlegel, 
and  licensed  to  preach.  I  did  preach  sometimes,  and 
indeed  obtained  some  approbation  and  applause  for  my 
performances.  I  cannot  say  that  I  bestowed  as  much 
on  myself,  although  I  was  well  aware  that  I  possessed  a 
good  deal  of  facility  and  fluenc}'.  I  had  known  several 
good  preachers,  and  had  set  before  myself  a  standard  to- 
which  it  was  not  easy  to  attain. 


8o  Life  of  Arndt.  [ad.  1796—97- 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  in  Wittow,  where  people 
were  beginning  to  think  something  of  me,  I  made  up 
my  mind  not  to  become  a  clergyman.  Why  t  I  thought 
it  was  because  I  found  out  by  degrees  that  most  of  the 
appointments  in  Pomerania  and  Riigen,  which  were 
under  royal  patronage,  were  usually  obtained  by  a  species 
of  buying  and  selling,  and  most  easily  by  intrigues  in 
Stockholm,  not  always  of  the  most  creditable  kind  ;  but 
probably  the  real  reason  was  that  the  world  was  drawing 
me  another  way,  that  I  had  not  the  true  vocation,  and 
that  I  was,  though  unconsciously,  tainted  with  the  theo- 
logical lukewarmness  of  the  time.  However,  so  it  was, 
I  was  not  attracted  by  the  fat  livings  of  Riigen,  and 
never  assumed  the  black  coat.  Yet  livings  in  Riigen 
might  well  have  attractions  for  either  a  worldly  or  a 
priestly  mind.  For  many  of  them,  at  the  then  high 
price  of  corn  would  bring  in  2000  or  3000  thalers,  and 
their  holders  were  lords  of  tJic  manor,  drove  four  black 
horses,  and  signed  themselves  Kirchherren  {church  lords). 
But  they  were  not  all  of  this  kind  ;  not  my  Kosegarten, 
who  was  not  tormented  by  any  demon  of  pride,  but  I 
knew  one  who  was  guilty  of  many  such  absurd  pieces  of 
vanity.  I  met  this  gentleman  once  in  aristocratic  com- 
pany, and  asked  him  why  he  had  signed  himself  Kirch- 
herr  on  some  public  notice,  it  being  a  word  so  very 
unusual  in  Riigen.  He  answered  boldly  that  it  was  his 
due  title,  and  very  proper  for  a  lord  of  the  manor  on  the 
island,  and  that  in  Sweden  it  was  used  by  every  clergy- 
man. I  answered  rather  angrily,  "  Herr  Pastor,  you 
have  translated  the  word  incorrectly.  The  Swedish 
word  Kyrkoherdc  is  as  different  from  Kirchherr  as  the 


JET.  26—27.]  Travels.  Si 

wandering-  Apostle  Paul  was  from  the  Pope  at  Rome. 
It  does  not  mean  Lord  of  the  Church,  but  Shepherd  oixhe 
Church,  I  think  you  had  better  keep  to  the  name  Pastor." 

Though  I  have  told  this  story,  I  must  allow  that  my 
dear  island  had  at  that  time,  even  in  some  of  the  highest 
and  richest  livings,  men  distinguished  for  their  know- 
ledge and  character.  I  determined  then  to  bid  adieu  to 
the  clerical  office,  and  to  plunge  into  the  world.  I  was 
eight  and  twenty,  and  I  had  a  great  longing  to  see  the 
world.  ]\Iy  father  provided  the  means,  and  I  was  quite 
able  to  shift  for  myself.  So  I  got  on  very  comfortably, 
if  not  like  a  nobleman,  at  least  like  a  gentleman.  I 
passed  a  year  and  a  half,  from  the  spring  of  1798  to  the 
autumn  of  1799,  in  travelling  about,  now  on  foot,  now 
by  boat  or  by  coach,  meeting  with  many  adventures 
which  need  not  be  detailed  here,  spending  some  months 
at  Vienna,  and  studying  Hungary,  and  then  passing  the 
Alps  into  Italy.  There  the  renewed  outbreak  of  the  war 
surprised  me,  and  drove  me  away  quicker  than  I  had  in- 
tended, so  that  I  was  not  able  to  see  Rome,  Naples,  or 
Sicily.  As  the  flames  of  war  burst  forth  \  reached  Nice, 
then  Marseilles,  and  passed  the  whole  summer  in  Paris. 

In  the  autumn  I  went  slowly  home  through  Brussels, 
Cologne,  Frankfort,  Leipzig,  and  Berlin.  On  this 
journey,  as  I  am  sorry  to  say  was  the  case  on  many 
subsequent  ones,  I  was  guided  by  instinct  rather  than 
by  any  conscious  object.  Without  any  definite  aim  or 
design,  without  previous  preparation  or  study  of  the 
places  I  was  to  traverse,  I  have  loitered  through  the 
world  in  too  haphazard  a  manner.  I  made  this  journey 
in  a  Brudcr  Sorgenlos  fashion,  almost  as  if  I  had  been  a 

6 


82  Life  of  Arndt.  [a-d.  1798. 

high-born  aristocrat,  excepting  for  the  lack  of  a  full 
purse  and  unlimited  credit.  However  I  found  out  after- 
wards that  I  had  had  an  object  dimly  before  me, 
though  I  was  unconscious  of  it  at  the  time  ;  and  I  saw 
and  learned  to  know  both  men  and  things.  But  now  when 
I  recall  what  I  have  seen  in  my  past  life,  I  think  it  would 
be  a  great  misfortune  to  a  man,  if  he  could  foresee  how 
troubles  would  come  to  him  in  his  course  through  life. 

After  his  return  from  these  travels  Arndt  published  a  long 
and  minute  account  of  his   journey.     It  gives   evidence  of  a 
very  careful  study  of  the  countries  he  visited ;  and  few  of  his 
readers  would  accuse  him  of  wandering  about  without  an  aim  or 
a  purpose.     He  revels  in  descriptions  of  fine  scenery,  and  his 
language  is  often  picturesque  and  poetical.     The  countries  he 
visited,  however,  are  now  too  well  known  and  have  been  too 
often  described,  to  make  it  worth  while  to  quote   any  mere 
descriptions.     But  he  made  his  journey  at  a  remarkable  time. 
War  had  but  just  ceased  to  rage  in  Germany,  Italy  had  wit- 
nessed the  rise  of  Napoleon,  the  Cisalpine  and  Ligurian  repub- 
lics had  sprung  into  existence,  and  French  troops  were  stationed 
in  most  of  the  chief  towns  along  his  route.     The  following  pas- 
sages, referring  to  the  state  of  the  country  at  the  time  he  passed 
through  it,  have,  therefore,  an  interest  of  their  own.     He  mixed 
as  much  as  possible  with  his  fellow-travellers,  and  with  all  the 
society  which  came  in  his  way,  finding  particular  pleasure,  he 
tells  us,  in  the  company  of  the  French  soldiers.     In  Italy  and 
in   France  he  always  passed  as  a   Svrede,   "for  a  Swede  is 
respected  everywhere,  because  he  belongs  to  a  nation  ;  who 
would  call  himself  a  German  now,  when  the  Germans  have  sold 
themselves  into  slavery?" 

Erlangen,  Jwie,  1798. — My  companions  pointed  out 
to  me  how  the  Imperialists  under  Wartensleben  w^ere 
posted    on    the    north-east   declivity,   and    the    "  New 


^T.  28.]  Erlangen.  ^^ 

Franks"  on  the  south-west,  near  Forchheim,  until  the 
latter  forced  the  first  to  retreat.    Ever3-body  in  Erlangen 
climbed  these  hills  to  see  the  skirmishing  of  the  out- 
posts.    Afterwards  the  French  were  posted  for  several 
days  on  this  side  of  the  mountain,  just  where  we  were 
sitting  under  the  walls  of  Erlangen.     Their  army  must 
have  had  a  very  disorganised  and  ragged  appearance. 
]\Iany  of  them  were  without  clothes  and  shoes,  wrapped  in 
rags  and  tatters  of  all  colours,  without  even  the  pretence 
of  a  tent,  but  provided  with  good  weapons,   and   going 
into  battle  with  the  light-heartedness  and  activity  with 
which  they  would  have  gone  to  a  dance.     They  knew  how 
to  collect  booty,  and  understood  scraping  together  ducats 
and  dollars,  turning  them  up  out  of  hiding-places  in  the 
ground,   and  walls,  and  trunks  of  trees,  wherever  their 
anxious   owners  had   concealed  them.     Some  of  them 
had  carried  off  so  much  silver,  that  to  make  it  lighter  to 
carry,  they  would  give  six  "  la2ibtJialc}^'  for  a  louis  d'or. 
It  was  a  curious  sight  to  see  them  in  their  plundered 
finery,  and  in  the  clothes  they  made  themselves  out  of 
the   materials   they  had  stolen.     Coats   made   of  bed- 
furniture,  old  overcoats,  smock-frocks,  women's  gowns,  all 
in  strange  combination.     They  had  an  astonishing  num;;_ 
ber  of  Jews  among  them.     Their  flight  after  the  battle  of 
Neumark  was  as   rapid   as  their  advance.      Then   the 
Bamberg  and  Wiirzburg  peasants  took  a  terrible  revenge. 
With  savage  fury  they  massacred  whole  corps,  killing 
them  cruelly  with  their  rude  weapons.     Some  of  them 
they  even  threw  down  into  the  caves.     Thus  inhuman 
and  brutal  atrocities  were  inhumanly  revenged. 

Venice,  September,  1798. — During  my  stay  here  papers 

6—2 


84  Life  of  Arndt  [A.D.1798. 


were  sold  about  the  streets  for  one  soldo  containing  the 
news  of  Nelson's  victory  at  Aboukir  Bay,  and  at  the 
corner  of  every  street  they  were  crying,  "  La  relazione 
della  sconfitta  dell'  armata  Francese  per  gl'  Inglesi  sotto 
il  commandamento  di  Nelson." 

There  was  not  much  that  was  attractive  left  in  Lom- 
bardy,  in  consequence  of  the  plunder  and  spoliation  of 
the  French,  and  travelling  was  very  unpleasant  from  both 
French  and  Austrian  suspiciousness.  I  determined,  there- 
fore, to  go  straight  to  beautiful  Florence,  there  to  settle 
down  to  Italian  life,  and  thence  after  a  few  months  to 
visit  the  most  remarkable  places.  But  all  these  plans 
were  deranged  by  the  unfortunate  state  of  affairs.  Soon 
after  my  arrival,  the  Roman-Neapolitan-French  quarrel 
began,  and  Rome  and  Naples  were  closed  to  me. 

Ferrara. — Scarcely    anything    is   to    be    seen    in    this 
empty  and  deserted  town  but  poverty  and  discontent. 
It  has  been  so  certainly  for  a  long  time,  but   the  late 
revolution   has  chased  away  the  last  remaining  nobles 
and  rich  men,  and  their  places  have  been  taken  by  1 500 
Frenchmen,  who  live  at  the  expense  of  the  inhabitants. 
As  the  citizen  is  disconsolate,  the  peasant  is  ragged  ;  and 
universal    discontent    and    misery    are    evident  even    in 
the  faces  of  those  who  do  not  believe  in  the  thunders  of 
the  Vatican,  and  the  graves  of  Peter  and  Paul  at  Rome. 
They  have  kept  their  hands  off  nothing  ;  not  only  have 
the  monks  and  nuns  been  sent  back  to  the  plough  and 
to  the  spinning-wheel,  but  the  poor-houses  and  hospitals 
have  been  plundered,  and  every  day  more  people  are  re- 
duced to  want  and  helplessness. 

Bologna. — Several  of  the  chief  masters  of  the  Lombard 


^T.  28.]  Bologna.  85 

schools  were  of  this  town,  and  once  their  best  works 
were  to  be  seen  here  in  rich  profusion  in  the  churches, 
cloisters,  and  palaces.      But  this  last  revolution,  which 
has  turned  the  world  and  everybody  upside  down,  has 
changed  much  here  also,  and  many  of  the  best  and  most 
beautiful  things,  which  one  used  to  see  here  and  elsewhere 
in  Italy,  one  must  now  go  to  Paris  to  admire.     Some 
also  have  been  moved  from  their  places,  carried  away 
and  concealed  ;  and  so  many  things  perhaps  will  be  lost 
for  ever.     Many  of  the  first  families  live  for  the  most 
part  at  a  distance,  hidden  in  some  country,  out-of-the-way 
villa,  or  they  shut  themselves  up  with   their  best  and 
finest  property  away  from  the  eyes  of  the  public,  because 
riches  and  splendour  are  beginning  to    be   considered 
crimes.     So  the  former  free  admission  has  been  stopped. 
And  lastly,  several  palaces  are  standing  quite  empty  and 
desolate,  and  no  one  knows  what  has  become  of  their 
treasures  and  works  of  art.     And  this  must  be  still  more 
the  case  with  the  cloisters  and  the   churches.     However 
Bologna  is  still  so  rich  in  works  of  art,  even  in  fine  ones, 
that  a  stranger  would  hardly  discover  that  it  has  been 
plundered,  if  it  were  not  for  the  universal  lamentation. 
But  I  could  not  succeed  in  penetrating  into  the  palaces 
in  this  time  of  spies  and  suspicion.     I  have  seen  many 
absurdities  here  which  are  peculiarly  French.    Although 
the  foolish  floating  batteries  and  machines  by  means  of 
which  the  English  coasts  were  to  be  stormed  have  been 
long  forgotten  in  France,  and  were  indeed  never  intended 
seriously,  French  pedlars  here  are  everywhere  carrying 
about  models  for  sale,  in  which  the  English  ships  of  war 
are  being  blown  away  like  bubbles,  and  everybody  on 


S6  Life  of  Arndt.  [a-d.  1798, 


the  coast  is  taking  flight.  Crowds  stand  staring  at  the 
things,  and  the  French  maintain  in  the  public  journals 
that  England  will  be  the  next  to  receive  her  death-blow. 
Still  more  foolish  and  really  pitiable  are  the  public 
placards,  in  which  you  read  that  Nelson  has  been  de- 
feated with  the  loss  of  ten  ships,  and  Brueys'  victorious 
flag  will  soon  be  seen  floating  along  the  coasts  of  Sicily. 
From  Gratz  to  Bologna  there  is  but  one  opinion  about 
one  man  ;  by  friends  and  foes  Buonaparte  is  always 
represented  as  a  great  man,  a  friend  of  mankind,  the 
protector  of  the  poor  and  miserable  ! 

Florejice,  Dec.  10,  1798.  —  A  public  proclamation 
was  issued,  ordering  all  foreigners  to  present  themselves 
within  eight  days  in  the  old  palace,  before  the  com- 
mandant and  some  commissaries,  that  their  passports 
might  be  examined,  and  that  they  might  give  an 
account  of  their  residence  and  business  in  Florence. 
Those  whose  papers  were  found  in  order  were  to  receive 
a  ticket  of  protection  ;  those  who  were  not,  a  passport, 
with  the  warning  that  they  would  be  conducted  across 
the  border  by  the  sbirri,  if  they  did  not  leave  willingly. 
A  most  unwelcome  piece  of  information  for  me,  for 
where  was  I  to  go,  in  this  time  of  new  wars  and  up- 
roars, when  strangers  were  not  allowed  to  rest  in  peace 
anywhere  .''  But  how  much  worse  Avas  it  for  many  poor 
exiles,  who  had  not  the  means  for  the  journey,  and  did  not 
know  where  to  go,  for  every  place  was  forbidden  ground 
to  them  ;  add  to  which  the  unusual  cold,  which  even 
the  wealthy  here  can  scarcely  bear.  There  were  scenes 
of  human  misery  during  these  days,  but  scenes  too  of 
human  life  in  its  most  varied  colours.     All  those  who 


^T.  2S.]  Florence.  87 

usually  shunned  the  light  were  forced  to  come   out,  and 
expose  themselves  to  the  sight  and  remarks  of  the  crowd 
of  bystanders.       Beggars,  pipers,  the   blind  and    lame, 
fiddlers,  quack   doctors,  counts  and   marquises,   bishops 
and  abbots,   Frenchmen  and   Englishmen,    old  women 
and  beautiful  girls,  all  mixed  up  together,  crowding  and 
swearing,  pushing  and  abusing  one  another,  all  anxious 
to  get  to  the   pool   of  Bethesda  and  hear  their  fate. 
There  was  jesting  youth  and  foolish  old  age ;  every  one 
was  in  the  dress  of  his  country,  his  age,  and  his  fortune, 
the  conqueror  and  the  conquered,  democrats  and  aristo- 
crats, distinguishing  themselves  by  their  cockades.     But, 
however  disagreeable   the    crowd    might   be,    it   was   a 
pleasure  to  see  how  European  gallantry  was  never  for- 
gotten ;  precedence  and  a  free  passage  was  always  given 
to  a  petticoat,  however  dirty  it  might  be,  and  whatever 
dirty  hole  it  might  have  come  out  of,  as  well  as  to  the 
beggars  and  cripples,  of  whom  they  were  glad  to  get  rid. 
I  myself  went  three  times  in  vain,  although  my  time  was 
eettins:  short,  and  it  was  not  till  the  fourth  day  that  I 
succeeded,  by  bribing  the  guard,  in  gaining  admission, 
as  if  I  had  some  special  business  ;    and   luckily,   as    a 
German,   I   obtained   my  ticket   of    protection  without 
difficulty.     About  two-thirds  of  this  rabble  of  strangers 
were   emigrants,  many  extremely  shabby  and   ragged, 
who  perhaps  a  few  years  before  would  have  had  autho- 
rity over  those  who  were  now  judges  of  their  fate. 

Turin.— It  was  about  the  time  when  the  King  of  Sar- 
dinia resigned  his  territory  of  Piedmont.  In  Turin  there 
was  great  shouting  and  jubilation  over  the  new  freedom, 
and   it  would  have  come  to  something  serious  if  the 


88  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1799. 

French  soldiers  had  not  kept  the  peace.  There  was 
singing  and  drumming  in  every  street,  and  exultation 
over  the  fall  of  the  king  and  his  nobles  who  had  followed 
him,  or  had  fled  elsewhere.  The  theatres  resounded 
with  shouting,  stamping,  and  huzzaing  about  liberty. 
Unfortunately  we  could  only  remain  two  days  in  this 
whirlpool. 

Lucca. — This  little  state  of  Lucca,  too,  has  been 
forced  into  the  whirlpool  by  which  Italy,  from  one  end 
to  the  other,  is  agitated.  The  people  are  told  they  have 
been  delivered  from  tyranny,  every  ragamuffin  is  called 
a  citizen  and  a  freeman,  one  of  the  sovereign  people, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  names  which  have  been  invented 
to  tickle  people's  ears.  In  the  meantime  they  have  had 
to  pay  well  for  this  liberty,  and  that  the  whole  people 
have  not  yet  felt  it  severely  is  due  to  the  stores  laid  up 
and  to  the  general  prosperity,  which  the  old  despots 
knew  how  to  foster.  For  more  than  two  months  there 
have  been  from  6000  to  7000  French  soldiers  in  and 
around  the  town  whom  they  have  been  obliged  to  equip 
afresh  and  maintain.  A  store  of  fifteen  thousand  barrels 
of  oil  the  French  have  sold  to  Leghorn,  and  have  accepted 
as  a  pledge  of  friendship  a  loan  of  a  million  and  a  half 
lire  from  the  people  of  Lucca.  Now  they  are  wishing 
to  sell  the  common  lands  and  the  property  of  certain 
exiles,  but  they  can  find  no  one  to  buy  them.  The  town, 
has  still  1800  Frenchmen  within  its  walls  whom  they 
must  maintain.  Such  things  make  the  courage  even  of 
the  best  patriots  fail. 

The  revolution  at  Lucca  was  so  recent,  and  the  little 
town  so  near,  that  it  would  have  been  a  sin  not  to  visit 


MT.  29.]  Lucca.  89 

it.  Unfortunately,  my  stay  there  was  shorter  than  I 
could  have  wished,  as  I  could  only  obtain  leave  to  remain 
two  days.  For  strangers  were  not  trusted.  Here  I  saw 
a  popular  orator  in  the  cathedral  square,  who  was 
loud  in  his  denunciations  of  the  old  Ezeline,  as  he  nick- 
named them,  and  of  the  queen  of  Naples,  whom  he  called 
the  Fredegonde  of  Italy,  and  who,  he  prophesied,  would 
soon  be  swinging  from  the  gallows.  But  who  were  the 
audience  who  stood  around  him  .?  Men  in  torn  cloaks, 
boys  who  every  now  and  then  broke  in  with  a  "  Viva 
la  liberta,"  French  soldiers  and  officers,  who  were  not 
listening  to  the  speaker,  but  whispering  to  the  women 
and  girls  whom  the  diversion  had  brought  together ;  and 
lastly,  a  few  peasants,  with  their  baskets  and  packs,  who, 
not  much  wiser  than  their  donkeys,  were  staring  at  the 
new  wonder  with  wide-open  mouths  and  stupid  eyes. 
There  was  not  one  real  citizen  in  the  whole  crowd. 

I  was  at  last  driven  by  the  force  of  circumstances  to 
hasten  my  flight  from  beautiful  Italy,  as  the  prospect  on 
all  sides  seemed  to  threaten  a  general  war.  As  it  would 
have  been  vexatious  to  return  to  my  native  country  by 
sea,  I  determined  to  go  to  Genoa,  and  to  attempt  the 
journey  through  France  and  over  the  Rhine. 

Genoa. — The  harbour  can  receive  large  ships  of  war,  and 
is  very  spacious  ;  but  it  always  seemed  to  me  shallow, 
because  it  lies  so  exposed  away  from  the  town.  It  was 
now  almost  entirely  empty ;  except  for  some  American, 
Danish,  and  Swedish  ships,  and  a  couple  of  French 
coasting  vessels,  there  was  nothing  in  it  but  Genoese 
timber,  which  will  fall  into  decay  if  the  war  lasts  long. 

It  is  only  too  obvious  that  the  spirit  of  the  people  is 


90  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1799. 

not  the  fine,  steadfast  spirit  of  liberty,  but  rather  that  of 
uproar   and    fermentation.     This  spirit  of  ferment  has 
been  excited  by  a  recent  incident  (the  murder  of  one  of 
the  revolutionary  leaders).     It  was  now  eight  days  after 
the  murder,  and  preparations  were  being  made  to  render 
the  funeral  of  Biagini  as  splendid  as  possible.     It  was  a 
beautiful    day  on   which   the  ceremony  took   place — a 
ceremony  worthy  of  the  great  man  whose  shade  had 
gone  to  the  lower  world.     Five  thousand  young  men, 
selected  from  the  National  Guard,  headed  the  procession 
with  waving  banners  and  mournful  music  ;  five  hundred 
French,  with  the  General's  staff  and  the  authorities,  fol- 
lowed the  bier,  which  was  borne  in  triumph  through  the 
town    decked    with    the    insignia    of    liberty.     At    the 
"Square  of  Liberty"  at  last  a  pause  was  made.     The 
new  street  was  full  of  people  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
The  windows  were  crowded   up  to  the  very  roofs,  and 
people  swarmed  even  on  the  walls.     When  the  proces- 
sion came  to  a  stand  there  was  a  pause  while  a  beautiful 
dirge  was  played.     Then  a  voice  cried  solemnly  :  "Who- 
ever does  not  go  willingly  to  the  grave  of  the  good  let 
him  go  home ;  what  happens  to-day  the  people  will  not 
punish."     That  was   the  best  thing  I  heard  in   all  the 
speeches  and  patriotic  hymns.     The    many  tears  that 
were  shed  were  the  best  eulogy  on  the  departed.    Many 
even  of  the  ex-nobility  were  present,  exposing  them- 
selves to  the  scorn  of  the  populace.     Their  wives  and 
dauG^hters  showed  themselves  on  the  balconies  dressed 
in  mourning,  and  many  of  them  with  handkerchiefs  to 
their  eyes,  and  throwing  down  flowers.     Necessity  was 
urgent ;  but  it  must  have  been  hard  to  go  so  far.     How 


^T.  29.]  Genoa.  91 

many  of  those  noble  tears  could  have  been  genuhie? 
Nothing  could  be  heard  of  the  speeches  and  songs,  the 
people  interrupting  continually  with  "  Viva  la  liberta," 
"  La  morte  a  tiranni."  To  me  it  was  a  day  for  thought, 
and  at  the  same  time  welcome,  because  it  showed  me  a 
great  deal  of  the  disposition  of  the  people,  and  brought 
almost  the  whole  town  to  light — even  the  ladies — as  it 
would  have  been  considered  high  treason,  especially  for 
the  ci-dcvants,  not  to  be  in  the  town,  or  to  come  into 
the  town  on  this  occasion.  In  several  places  and  on 
the  gates  were  to  be  seen  placards,  on  which  were  an- 
nounced the  sale  by  auction  of  the  furniture  and  valuables 
from  the  castles  of  the  ex-king  of  Sardinia,  who,  among 
other  pretty  titles,  was  generally  called  the  last  tyrant 
of  Turin.  One  curious  circumstance  was  that  the  French 
commissary,  in  the  name  of  "  la  grande  nation,"  was  to 
receive  the  money,  which,  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
king's  renunciation,  and  according  to  the  declaration  of 
the  French  Government  on  his  expulsion,  belonged 
really  to  the  people. 

At  last  my  stay  here  came  to  an  end,  and  I  longed 
heartily  to  be  away  from  Italy  because  of  the  bad  look- 
out, and  the  likelihood  of  war.  There  were  the  old 
reasons  for  choosing  the  sea  voyage.  About  22  o'clock 
(I  must  have  the  pleasure  of  counting  time  once  after 
the  Italian  fashion)  the  lading  was  finished,  and  we  set 
sail  (for  France)  with  a  favourable  wind.  The  chief  part 
of  the  passengers  were  forty-eight  galley-slaves,  or  men 
condemned  to  the  galleys,  with  an  escort  of  fifteen  gen- 
darmes and  some  officers.  These  slaves,  the  gendarmes, 
the  officers,  and  the  rest  of  the  passengers,  mixed  freely 


^2  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1799. 


on  deck  and  below.  Even  the  Frenchwomen  became 
reconciled  to  it,  and  conversed  freely  with  these  "  braves 
garcons,"  as  they  called  them. 

N'ice. — They  told  me,  that  according  to  a  new  law,  I 
could  not  travel  any  further  in  France  until  I  had  sent 
my  passport  to  the  Minister  of  Police  in  Paris,  and  had 
received  notice  from  him  that  I  might  continue  my 
journey.  I  had  to  stay  here,  therefore,  four  decades, 
until  I  received  a  new  pass  from  our  Swedish  ambas- 
sador in  Paris,  Baron  Stael  von  Holstein,  undersigned 
by  Duval,  then  ^Minister  of  Police.  On  the  whole, 
people  here  seem  not  discontented  with  the  new  order 
of  things  ;  at  least,  speaking  of  the  peasantry  who  inhabit 
the  country,  and  get  what  they  can  out  of  the  ground. 
The  townspeople  complain  much,  and  wath  cause,  private 
interest  preventing  many  from  being  good  patriots.  The 
town  formerly  possessed  a  considerable  trade,  but  it  is 
now  as  good  as  destroyed.  Buonaparte's  Egyptian  expe- 
dition deprived  the  town  of  most  of  its  ships,  and  they 
have  not  yet  been  replaced.  Besides,  the  English  have 
been  driven  away  by  the  war,  and  these  two  circum- 
stances have  caused  much  poverty  and  discontent. 

As  for  public  worship,  every  one  here  does  almost  as 
he  likes.  The  affected  severity  which  is  shown  nearer 
the  capital  in  enforcing  a  law  as  absurd  as  it  is  impolitic 
has  lost  much  of  its  power  here.  The  celebration  of  the 
old  Christian  Sunday  is  undisturbed,  though  good  Re- 
publicans keep  the  decade  holiday  as  well,  and  all 
persons  who  hold  office,  or  wish  to  hold  office,  must 
keep  it.  But  I  have  never  heard  a  bell  ring  here  at  an 
unusual  time,  as  that  would  be  resented  more  severely 


^T.  29.]  Nice. 


93 


in  a  conquered  province  than  in  the  interior,  where  the 
bell  has  been  the  signal  for  so  many  riots  and  bloody 
quarrels.  Another  result  of  Republicanism  is  to  be  seen 
here — that  piety  is  going-  more  and  more  out  of  fashion  ; 
and  there  is  no  need  now  for  half  the  churches  which 
used  to  be  well  filled  by  a  more  religious  generation. 

Italian  affairs,  which  during  my  residence  in  Nice  took 
such  a  bad  turn  for  the  French  after  the  famous  battle 
of  Verona,  caused  a  great  change  here.  The  town  was 
immediately  declared  in  a  state  of  siege,  everj-thing  was 
put  under  much  closer  inspection,  picquets  were  posted 
all  about,  soldiers  and  national  guards  were  placed  at 
the  gates  and  entrances  of  the  town  day  and  night,  that 
no  suspected  person  might  be  able  to  slip  through.  For 
a  formidable  spirit  of  desertion  set  in,  and  every  day 
some  were  caught  trying,  in  one  way  or  other,  to  get 
back  to  their  own  country.  For  me,  the  town  being 
placed  in  a  state  of  siege  had  no  more  unpleasant  con- 
sequences than  that  I  was  obliged  to  get  my  ticket  of 
protection  signed  oftener. 

After  the  tangled  knot  of  long  negotiation  had  been 
cut  with  the  sword,  Nice  became  a  most  interesting 
place  of  residence,  from  the  passing  through  of  the  troops 
on  their  way  to  or  from  Italy,  and  the  constant  rumours 
rising  like  the  wind  and  subsiding  as  quickly.  It  was 
made  a  depot,  and  a  sort  of  parade-ground  for  the  sick 
and  wounded  who  came  back  to  France  from  Italy,  and 
the  conscripts  and  fresh  troops  on  their  way  from  France 
to  Italy.  Besides  this,  it  was  the  landing-place  of  many 
who  were  fleeing  with  their  treasures,  or  their  lives  only, 
into    a  safer  country  before   the   successful   Austrians. 


04  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1799. 


From  all  these  I  was  able  to  obtain  as  lively  a  picture 
as  if  I  had  been  within  a  few  hours  of  the  scene  of 
conflict,  and  at  the  same  time  saw  many  things  which 
gave  me  some  idea  of  the  spirit  of  the  French  soldiers, 
and  of  the  system  of  management  among  the  allies  and 
the  troops.  At  last,  after  the  long  quarantine  which  I 
had  been  forced  to  keep  here,  I  set  off  on  my  journey 
again  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  3rd  of  May. 
T  and  two  officers  of  the  Marine  went  with  the  courier 
with  the  national  despatches,  and  there  were  three  other 
carriages  besides,  with  some  officers  of  the  Italian  army, 
some  women  and  some  merchants,  so  we  were  about 
thirty  in  all.  The  first  part  of  the  way  in  the  dark  was 
through  a  well-known  and  often-traversed  district  to  the 
stream  of  the  Var,  which  used  to  be  the  boundary 
between  France  and  Italy.  When  we  had  passed  the 
Var  by  the  bridge  of  St.  Laurent  day  began  to  break.  We 
got  down,  and  marched  armed  through  the  narrow  pass 
and  the  thick  underwood  of  the  hills,  as  the  neighbour- 
hood is  dangerous,  and  insecure  from  numerous  robbers. 

Jlix. — Life  here  is  of  a  very  revolutionary  kind.  No 
one,  especially  a  stranger,  goes  out  after  sunset  if  he  can 
help  it,  robbery  and  murder  are  so  common.  The  even- 
ins"  before  our  arrival  a  man  was  murdered  in  front  of 
his  own  door,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  because 
he  called  for  help  when  two  rascals  tried  to  take  his 
watch.  In  the  country  round  the  town  people  are  often 
completely  stripped  in  the  fields  and  gardens. 

Marseilles. — This  harbour,  as  quiet  and  safe  as  a  room, 
is  now,  alas,  as  dead.  Few  neutrals  come,  for  they  have 
been  driven  away  and  made  shy  by  the  new  laws  about 


^T.  29.]  Marseilles.  95 

prizes,  and  the  only  vessels  that  run  in  and  out  are  oc- 
casionally a  little  privateer,  and  some  of  the  lightest 
boats  which  run  along  the  coasts.  The  huge  Levant 
ships  have  been  lying  here,  food  for  the  worms,  for  the 
last  five  years ;  and  who  knows  how  much  longer  they 
may  be  here  ?  They  look  like  ruins,  and  with  them  are 
at  a  stand  all  the  activity  and  riches  of  this  town,  once 
the  most  lively  in  France.  The  churches  are  desecrated, 
and  their  ornaments  and  works  of  art  carried  away  ; 
even  the  graves  have  been  broken  open.  In  these  times, 
so  bad  for  trade,  towns,  especially  the  richer  places  like 
Marseilles,  suffer  most.  Not  only  the  old  ships,  which 
used  to  bring  gold  and  life  into  the  veins  of  the  State, 
are  dismasted  and  deserted  ;  but  the  best  and  newest 
houses  are  in  much  the  same  state,  and  on  almost  all 
the  doors  and  windows  you  may  read  "a  louer"  and 
"a  vendre."  Indeed,  how  can  the  population  remain 
when  the  means  of  living  is  cut  off,  when  trade  is  at  an 
end,  and  the  scythe  of  the  revolution  has  mown  down 
the  best  families.  If  you  praise  the  town  and  the  harbour 
to  the  Marseillais  now,  they  only  answer:  -'Before  the 
revolution  !  ah,  before  the  revolution  \  Then  INIarseilles 
was  something  !  Xow  we  are  poor,  and  more  than  a 
third  of  our  people  are  gone,"  so  greatly  has  the  town  been 
depopulated  by  the  guillotine  and  the  stoppage  of  trade. 
Lyons. — I  have  wandered  about  this  beautiful  town 
for  five  days,  among  the  living  and  the  dead,  among  the 
ruins  which  bear  the  traces  of  the  fearful  time,  among  the 
remains  of  an  earlier  period,  when  some  Roman  Verres, 
in  the  place  of  a  Challier,  ravaged  and  murdered  for  the 
eood  of  the  freest  of  nations.     With  the  noble  spirits 


g6  .    Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1799. 


among  the  people  I  have  wept  over  the  bloody  disasters 
which  have  befallen  the  most  industrious  and  honest 
people  of  this  great  nation.  The  cannon  of  the  besiegers 
has  chiefly  injured  the  beautiful  Rhone  side  of  the  town, 
and  traces  of  the  firing  may  still  be  seen  on  many  of  the 
principal  houses  ;  either  because  the  inhabitants  do  not 
care  to  rebuild  in  this  stormy  time,  or  because  they 
stand  empty  as  national  property. 

The  population  used  to  be  reckoned  at  from  130,000 
to  140,000  ;  it  is  now  less  by  one-third,  and  those  who 
are  left  are  crying  for  bread.  Whole  streets  are  deserted, 
and  many  of  the  largest  and  finest  houses  are  without 
inhabitants. 

While  English  fabrics  have  been  strictly  prohibited, 
the  cotton  manufactures  at  Rouen  and  other  towns  have 
fallen  away.  You  see  English  wares  on  all  sides  under 
Prussian  or  Saxon  trade-marks,  and  you  might  run  your- 
self off  your  legs  before  you  could  obtain  French  cotton 
goods  in  Paris.  Silk  is  quite  out  of  fashion,  and  all  the 
looms  might  moulder  away  and  all  the  mulberry-trees 
die,  before  any  one,  from  patriotic  motives,  would  dress 
in  home-made  silk. 

At  the  next  post  station,  Lucy  le  Bois,  we  found  a 
peasant  festival  going  on  in  the  Place,  where  there  were 
no  sio-ns  of  oppression  or  distress.  Both  men  and  women 
were  well-dressed,  many  even  elegantly,  and  joy  shone 
on  all  their  faces.  Some  were  dancing,  some  drinking, 
some  gaming.  We  mingled  with  them,  and  were  re- 
ceived by  thom  with  the  kindness  of  men  who  were 
conscious  of  their  freedom.  We  spent  a  pleasant  half- 
hour  with  them.     They  were  all  ready  to  cry  "  Vive  la 


XT.  29.]  Paris.  97 

liberte"  and  "  Vive  la  Republique,"  and  if  any  one  can 
do  so  certainly  the  peasant  can,  who,  amidst  all  the 
horrors  and  abuses,  has  got  rid  of  his  landlords  and 
bailiffs.  He  is  the  gainer,  while  trade,  industry,  and 
commerce  loudly  lament  over  the  Revolution  ;  but  still 
it  is  much  if  the  condition  of  two-thirds  of  the  nation  is 
improved. 

Paris. — But  let  us  go  on  to  the  busy,  bustling  life  of 
the  political  world  of  Paris.  And  first,  for  the  theatrical 
representation  by  which  they  tried  to  shift  their  own 
unpopularity  on  to  foreign  shoulders — a  commemoration 
of  the  tragedy  which  had  made  the  dispersing  of  the 
Congress  of  Rastadt*  so  famous,  the  origin  of  which  is 
still  shrouded  in  mystery,  the  blame  being  continually 
shifted  from  one  party  to  another.  This  tragi-comedy 
was  the  funeral  of  the  French  envoys,  murdered  close  by 
Rastadt.  The  whole  nation  had  at  first  been  unanimous 
in  their  cry  of  abhorrence  and  demand  for  vengeance, 
and  the  Government  and  newspapers  had  sought  in- 
dustriously to  nourish  the  feeling.  Many  thought  that 
the  murder  would  be  the  cause  of  a  revival  of  the  glory 
of  the  French  arms,  and  reawaken  the  spirit  of  patriotism. 
Many  said  emphatically  that  "  the  Austrians  must  be 
exterminated  to  revenge  the  blood  of  our  emissaries ; 
the  commonest  soldier  would  become  a  tiger,  and  give 
no  quarter  to  any  Hungarian/'  etc.,  etc. 

So  it  went  on  during  the  first  few  weeks  ;  but  gradu- 

*  The  Congress  of  Rastadt  was  assembled  at  the  end  of  1797,  to  make 
peace  between  France  and  the  Empire,  but  war  broke  out  again  with 
Austria,  and  the  French  Deputies,  fearing  for  their  safety,  determined  to 
leave  the  pUice.  Just  outside  the  town  they  were  attacked  by  the  Szekler 
hussars,  Bonnier  and  Robeyeot  murdered,  and  Jean  Debry  left  for  dead. 


gS  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1799- 

ally  many  changed  their  minds,  and  many  reports,  per- 
haps all  alike  untrue,  flew  about  among  the  people,  and 
some  even  accused  the  Government  of  being  implicated 
in  the  dark  story.     The  authorities  themselves,  there- 
fore, had  more  than  one  reason  for  wishing  to  have  the 
obsequies  performed   with    the   greatest   pomp,  and    to 
make  use  of  this  spectacle  to  divert  the  hatred  of  the 
people  from  themselves.     June  i  was  the  day  chosen. 
Jean    Debry,  one  of  the  envoys,  and  president  of  the 
Five  Hundred,  gave  notice  of  the  ceremony  amid  curses, 
prayers,  and  tears,  in  a  pathetic  speech,  at  which  I  u^as 
present,  relating,  amusingly  enough,  the  adventures  of 
the  dark  night  of  the  9th  Floreal,  when  the  deed  was 
done.     At  first  his  audience  listened  attentively  to  his 
story,  with  all  its  contradictions,  which  reminded  me  of 
Falstaff's  deeds  of  heroism.     But  when  he  came  to  him- 
self and  his  own  adventures,  it  became  too  ridiculous. 
"  Pierced  with  twenty-four  wounds,  I  crept  into  a  ditch 
full  of  brambles,  and   thought  my  miserable  life  was 
ebbing  away,  when  two  peasants  found  me,  and  brought 
me,  half  dead,  to  Rastadt."     As  he  pronounced  these 
words  with  the  greatest  solemnity,  most  of  his  colleagues 
laughed,  and  looked  at  him  significantly,  as  if  to  say : 
"  Show    us   a  trace,   then,  of  these   dangerous  wounds 
which  you  received  just  four  weeks  ago." 

On  the  Champs  de  Mars,  where  the  ceremony  was  to 
be  performed,  everything  had  been  arranged  and  pre- 
pared to  strike  the  eye  and  touch  the  heart.  The 
National  altar  had  been  changed  into  an  Elysium  (as 
the  descriptions  said),  and  surrounded  with  elms,  poplars, 
and  acacias.     Amid  a  group  of  oaks  rose  the  statue  of 


^T.  29.]  Funeral  of  the  French  Envoys.  99 

Liberty,  while  sweet  odours  burned  on  a  marble  altar  at 
her  feet.  Youths  dressed  in  ancient  priestly  garments 
stood  near,  and  kept  up  the  flames  on  the  altars  and  in 
some  little  vessels  placed  here  and  there.  In  the  middle 
of  the  Champs  de  Mars  was  a  pyramid,  the  centre  of 
the  ceremony,  the  inscription  on  which  is  too  remarkable 
to  be  omitted.  On  the  four  sides  were  written  :  "  I.  On 
Floreal  9.  Year  of  the  Republic  7.  The  Austrian 
government,  by  its  troops,  caused  the  murder  of  the 
French  ministers,  who  had  been  sent  to  negotiate  peace. 
Vengeance !  II.  France  says,  that  it  was  not  the 
Germans,  but  the  Austrians,  who  dipped  their  hands 
in  our  blood.  III.  The  murderous  Austrians  have  sum- 
moned bandits,  murderers,  poisoners,  to  bring  Europe 
from  its  state  of  civilisation  back  to  barbarism.  IV.  A 
murderous  government,  a  government  which  violates 
the  law  of  nations,  sets  itself  outside  that  law." 

The  grove  of  trees  which  stood  around  had  been  in 
part  transported  thither  with  great  expense,  for  on  the 
Champs  de  Mars  itself  only  a  few  poplars  are  to  be  seen, 
the  age  of  which  dates  back  but  a  few  years.  Before 
the  pyramid  stood  two  urns  of  porphyry,  with  the  in- 
scription, "  To  the  murdered  French  envoys."  Cypresses 
and  weeping  willows  hung  over  them. 

The  municipalities  assembled  first,  each  in  the  temple 
of  its  arrondissement,  and  performed  a  ceremony  which 
was  intended  to  rouse  a  sense  of  honour  among  the 
conscripts.  Before  each  temple  two  pillars  were  erected, 
one  white  and  one  black.  The  presidents  reckoned  over 
the  names  of  the  conscripts,  and  wrote  down  on  the 
white  pillar  those  who  had  joined  the  standard  of  their 

7—2 


lOO  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1799- 


country,  and  also  those  who  had  volunteered  to  defend 
the  Republic  and  to  revenge  the  injury  which  had  been 
done  to  all  nations  in  the  persons  of  the  French  envoys. 
Hymns  in  their  honour  and  that  of  the  Republic  were 
sung,  and  then  the  black  pillar  was  defiled  with  the 
names  of  those  who  hung  back  from  going,  with  the  de- 
claration that  they  should  not  be  wiped  off  till  they  had 
fulfilled  their  duty  towards  their  country.     About  mid- 
day the  rest  of  the  officials  who  belonged  to  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Seine  assembled,  the  National  Institute,  the 
Court  of  Cassation,  etc.,  and  marched  slowly  from  the 
Louvre  to  the  Champs  de  Mars,  accompanied  by  troops 
with  arms  reversed,  to  the  sound  of  a  funeral  march, 
with  crape  on  the  instruments,  every  citizen  in  the  pro- 
cession wearing  a  black  band  on  his  arm.     From  every 
side  single  battalions  of  the  garrison  poured  in,  fiUing 
the  space  with  arms.      The   foreign  ambassadors,  the 
families  of  the  murdered  men,  the  Directory,  with  its 
guard,  arrived  about  two  o'clock  at  the  house  of  the 
Champs  de  Mars.    On  both  sides  of  the  field  and  behind 
the  wall  between  the  alleys  a  crowd  of  tents  had  been 
set  up,  as  if  prepared  for  a  great  encampment.     Tables, 
benches,  and  chairs  were  prepared  for  those  who  were 
hungry  and  tired,  and  great  barrels  of  beer  and  wine 
were  piled  up,  one  upon  another. 

After  waiting  a  long  time  in  the  burning  sun,  and 
among  the  dust  of  400,000  feet,  about  three  o'clock  the 
doors  of  the  palace  opened  and  the  procession  appeared, 
headed  and  brought  up  by  a  splendid  body  of  soldiers, 
and  escorted  by  the  magnificent  body-guard  of  the 
Directory.     Behind  the  first  column  came  the  families 


)     1   '\  '    '     >    ' 

1     ,  J  > J    >     1> 

>  J     J     J    >      ' 


^T.  29.]  The  Procession.  :;;\'fQr; 

of  the  murdered  men,  Roberjeot,  and  Bonnier,  and  of 
Debry,  and  Rosenstiel,  before  whom  were  borne  two  black 
banners  and  the  statue  of  Justice,  holding  in  one  hand  a 
drawn  sword  and  in  the  other  the  blood-stained  clothes 
which  Jean  Debry  wore  when  he  was  so  cut  to  pieces.  Then 
came  the  Directory,  in  their  bright  harlequin-costume, 
and  the  absurd  ministers  in  red  breeches  and  stockings, 
while  beside  them  were  carried  banners^  which  after 
being  thus  dedicated  were  to  be  sent  to  the  armies  as 
the  wings  of  vengeance.  Then  followed  the  municipali- 
ties, the  National  Institute,  the  Court  of  Cassation,  the 
general  staff,  and  divisions  of  soldiers ;  then  the  Inva- 
lides,  and  youths  and  boys  carrying  all  kinds  of  symbols 
and  attributes  closed  the  slow  procession.  At  the  altar 
of  the  Fatherland,  where  seats  were  placed  for  them, 
they  were  received  with  a  dirge  by  the  chorus  of  the 
Conservatoire,  which  sounded  solemn  and  touching  in 
the  still  air,  and  for  a  moment  stopped  the  bustle  and 
chatter  of  the  crowd. 

Then  Chenier,  with  a  branch  of  cypress  in  his  hand, 
began  a  funeral  eulogium  over  the  dead,  a  miserable 
thing,  quite  unworthy  of  the  great  assembly,  from  the 
turgid  eloquence  and  pomposity  which  took  the  place  of 
real  feeling,  and  from  the  barbarous  curses  and  insults 
he  poured  upon  the  Russians  and  Austrians.  Several 
speakers,  who  were  placed  at  intervals  round  the  circle, 
brought  their  orations  to  an  end  at  the  same  time  with 
him  at  a  given  signal,  and  at  last  the  speeches  and 
hymns  were  closed  with  a  loud  "  Vive  la  Republique," 
which  was  faintly  re-echoed  by  the  crowd.  Some  cere- 
monies were  performed  by  the  authorities  at  the  statue 


I02 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1799. 


of  Freedom  and  the  National  altar.  The  president, 
with  many  anathemas,  commended  the  memory  of  the 
murder  to  the  vengeance  of  the  nations  and  the  abhor- 
rence of  posterity,  and  every  one  laid  the  oak-twig  which 
he  held  in  his  hand  at  the  foot  of  the  altar.  The 
different  divisions  of  soldiers  gathered  round  the  pyramid, 
and  while  clouds  of  incense  rose  from  the  altars,  the  pre- 
sident blessed  the  banners,  and  with  the  "  Marseillaise" 
and  the  thunder  of  cannon  the  procession  returned  in 
the  former  order,  while  the  crowd  dispersed  over  the 
open  field,  and  clouds  of  dust  mixed  with  the  incense  of 
the  altars. 

I  had  fixed  August  8  for  my  departure,  and  had  taken 
a  place  on  the  diligence.  I  was  up  early,  but  lo  !  just 
when  I  was  going  out  with  bag  and  baggage,  half-a- 
dozen  bayonets  were  pointed  at  me  from  the  threshold, 
and  I  was  told  I  could  not  pass,  even  if  the  mail  was 
going  to  the  world's  end  and  I  wanted  to  go  with  it.  At 
the  same  time  they  showed  me  an  order  of  the  commis- 
sary of  police  of  that  quarter,  signifying  that  any  one 
might  be  let  in  but  no  one  let  out.  Six  o'clock  came, 
and  the  mail  was  already  far  away,  so  I  was  obliged  to 
settle  to  remain  till  the  following  morning. 

The  news  soon  roused  the  whole  house,  the  Hotel  de 
Bruxelles,  where  some  thirty  people  were  lodging.  Every 
one  looked  up  his  papers  and  passports,  etc.,  while  some 
hid  themselves  and  their  papers.  A  few  days  before 
some  Bretons  had  arrived,  and  they  began  to  wring  their 
hands  in  the  utmost  alarm.  The  host  compassionately 
carried  them  down  to  his  lowest  cellar,  where  they 
weathered  the  storm  among  heaps  of  wood  and  bundles 


^T.  29.]  Brussels.  103 

of  straw.  One  woman  who  had  been  there  for  some 
months,  and  usually  dined  at  the  host's  table,  crept  into 
the  landlady's  bed,  where  the  scrutiny  was  not  very 
close.  Only  one  young  man  they  fetched  out  of  his 
bed,  ordered  him  to  dress  at  once  and  go  with  them. 
"  He  is  no  better  than  we  are,"  one  of  the  soldiers  said  ; 
"  and  to-morrow  our  battalion  is  to  march  to  fight  against 
the  tyrants."  I  left  the  house  directly  they  were  gone, 
climbed  the  telegraph-tower  of  Montmartre  once  more, 
saw  once  more  the  Palais  Royal  in  the  evening,  and  the 
next  morning  I  found  the  house-door  not  blockaded. 

Brussels. — In  spite  of  the  beautiful  squares,  houses, 
and  streets  of  this  city,  in  spite  of  its  environs  which  are 
so  unique,  the  impression  it  makes  upon  one's  mind  is 
that  of  being  dead  and  forgotten  ;  and  often  in  its  most 
beautiful  parts  one   is  as  much   alone   as  if  one  were 
wandering  about  in  a  buried  and  rediscovered  Pompeii. 
Everything  is  quiet  and  desolate,  and  nothing  is  left  of 
the  old  splendour.     Unquestionably  Brussels  has  suffered 
the  most  of  all  the  towns  of  the  Austrian  Netherlands. 
Here  lived  the  Stadthalter,  who  kept  a  splendid  court, 
the  dukes,  and  princes,  and  counts  of  the  rich  provinces, 
which  certainly  did  not  belong  to  the  poorest  in  Europe. 
All  these  the  war  has,  as  it  were,  blown  away,  and  Avho- 
ever  knows  anything  of  human  things  will  easily  guess 
how  many  other  people  who  lived  by  means  of  them 
have   been  blown    away  with  them.     The   riots  which 
followed,  and    suspicions  and  accusations,  have  driven 
away  many   more,   and    riches,  which   are   a  crime  in 
France,  have    brought  their  possessors,  some  to  death 
and  some  to  imprisonment,  in  which  many  of  the  most 


104  -^i/"^  ^f  ■A'^'^idt.  [a.d.  1799. 

respected  citizens  are  kept  either  from  mere  suspicion  or 
as  hostages.  If  any  one  were  to  intercede  for  their  liber- 
ation he  would  run  the  risk  of  losing  his  own  liberty. 

In  order,  as  far  as  the  war  would  allow,  to  see  the 
beautiful  Rhine  in  its  glory,  I  chose  that  way  back  from 
France  to  my  country  ;  the  way  by  Geneva  through 
Switzerland  to  Strasburg  up  the  Rhine  was  closed.  On 
the  15th  August,  at  daybreak,  I  drove  out  of  the  gates 
of  Brussels. 

Bonn. — The  district  of  Cologne  was  one  of  the  hap- 
piest when  the  war  broke  out,  and  swept  over  the 
beautiful  Rhine  lands.  The  hopes  of  many  centuries 
were  trampled  under  foot.  But  this  little  town,  which 
depended  entirely  on  the  court,  had  no  manufactures, 
and  could  have  no  trade  on  account  of  its  larger  and 
more  fortunately  situated  rivals,  lost  most  by  the  change. 
With  the  court  its  splendour  and  its  trade  vanished. 
The  university,  which  never  was  large,  is  almost  de- 
stroyed, all  industry  stopped,  and  it  is  reckoned  that  of 
12,000  inhabitants,  which  Bonn  contained  in  1792, 
scarcely  8000  are  now  left,  and  these  are  for  the  greater 
part  reduced  to  poverty  by  the  demands  of  the  war. 

Coblenz. — All  externals — costumes,  dress,  and  lan- 
guage— have  become  very  French,  and  these  cheerful, 
lively  people  carry  it  off  very  well,  and  have  none  of  the 
ridiculous  stiffness  of  the  people  of  Brussels  and  Cologne 
in  their  new  Sunday  coat  of  liberty,  for  which  they  have 
paid  so  dear.  What  I  think,  and  must  think  of  the 
French  nation  as  a  whole,  is  well  known.  But  it  is  quite 
another  matter  when  they  are  armed  and  victorious  in  a 
foreign  land,  a  nation  then  is  not  true  to  itself. 


JET.  29.]  ATainz.  io5 

Every  two  or  three  months  fresh  troops  march  in 
famished  and  ragged,  are  equipped  in  fine  Dutch  cloth, 
eat  till  they  are  satisfied,  and  then  go  on  their  way  to 
leave  room  for  fresh  comers.  So  a  Dutch  officer  tells 
me,  who  is  here  recruiting.  In  fact,  it  is  not  only  the 
ill-treatment  of  these  poor  people  which  vexes  me,  but 
also  the  tolerably  certain  prospect  that  the  Rhine,  of 
which  Germany  was  once  so  proud,  will  be  shared  with 
the  Franks,  that  this  fine  race  will  be  reduced  to  a  hybrid 
set ;  that  Germany,  the  unconquered,  will  become  the 
scorn  of  all  nations. 

Alain:::. — As  there  is  nothing  to  be  said  about  ]\Iainz, 
but  of  what  it. was  ten  years  ago,  and  as  I  do  not  wish 
to  make  the  close  of  my  description  as  gloomy  and 
threatening  as  the  complaints  and  sufferings  of  the  town 
would  require,  I  will  be  short  here.  I  will  drag  on  the 
remainder  of  my  journey  through  a  few  more  pages,  for 
the  sake  of  making  the  natural  boundaries  of  France  my 
boundaries  also.  I  meant  to  have  added  something 
about  the  Frankfort  blockade,  about  the  Landsturm  of 
Spessart  and  Odenwald,  and  its  wonderful  marches,  and 
so  go  on  to  Wurzburg.  But  there  came  over  me  such  a 
disgust  at  the  whole  atrocious  war  that  I  shall  be  only 
too  glad  if  too  much  gall  has  not  already  flowed  from 
my  pen. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PROFESSOR  AT   GREIFSWALD. 

The  University  of  Greifswald. — Becomes  a  Political  Writer.  —  "Germany 
and  Europe." — "  History  of  Serfdom." — Consequent  Troubles, — Change 
in  Constitution  of  Riigen  and  Pomerania. 

I  WAS  now  again  at  home,  and  the  question  was  :  "What 
was  to  be  done  next  ?"  and  this  time  it  was  love  that 
settled  it.  An  old  love,  sometimes  hidden  under  thin 
white  ashes,  had  been  burning  silently  for  five  years 
past.  It  now  suddenly  blazed  up,  led  me  to  Greifswald, 
and  attached  me  to  the  university. 

The  unimportant  little  university  of  Greifswald  was 
one  of  the  oldest  learned  institutions  in  Germany,  and 
possessed  such  large  estates  and  foundations  that  it 
might  have  taken  a  higher  rank  than  it  did.  But  its 
management  was  based  upon  no  fixed  regulations  or 
principles,  but  depended  entirely  upon  the  character  of 
its  heads  ;  and  among  other  standing  evils  with  which  it 
was  vexed,  it  had  degenerated  into  an  institution  for 
providing  for  needy  Swedes.  Many  a  clever  Swede, 
who  afterwards  became  famous  as  a  poet,  or  an  eloquent 
speaker  in  the  Diet,  had  studied  at  Greifswald,  and  had 
begun  his  career  there  as  an  ordinary  or  extraordinary 


^T.  30—33.]  Marriage.  107 

professor.  Besides  this,  it  afforded  a  maintenance  to 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  professors,  and  of  many  of 
the  best  families  in  the  town.  I  married  Charlotte 
Marie,  daughter  of  the  professor  of  natural  history,  Dr. 
Quistorp,  and  became  a  private  tutor  ("  privat  Docent "), 
and  next  year,  through  the  influence  of  my  wife's  family. 
Adjunct  of  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy,  with  a  salary  of 
three  hundred  thalers,  and  in  1805*  I  was  made  Professor 
Extraordinary,  with  an  addition  of  two  hundred  thalers. 
In  the  summer  of  1801  my  wife  presented  me  with  a 
beautiful  little  boy,  at  the  cost  of  her  own  life. 

After  this  I  pressed  close,  close,  a  wife  to  my  bosoni ; 
Then  what  a  zest  in  life,  then  what  a  sweetness  in  love  ! 
•    So  I  sang  of  the  stars,  the  blessed  ones  yonder  in  heaven, 

And  of  whatso  on  earth  springs  into  greenness  and  bloom. 

Then  I  thought,  Roll  on  and  roll  on,  e'en  though  ye  return  not, 
Years  ;  and  thou,  too,  my  life,  ebb  from  me  ne'er  to  return. 
Immortality,  have  I  not  thee  from  of  old  and  for  ever? 
Gods  !  let  your  lightning  at  vnW  flash,  I  am  out  of  its  reach. 

Then  the  lightning  went  forth,  and  my  wife  sank  down  in  the  darkness. 
Long  time  lies  she  asleep,  silent  with  others  that  sleep. 
First  a  son  she  bore  me — a  priceless  treasure — then  slumbered. 
When  now  the  ninth  day  dawned  on  him,  we  mourned  her  a  corpse. 


*  Hofer  points  out  in  his  "  E.  i^I.  Arndt,  and  the  University  of  Greifs- 
wald,"  that  the  date,  1S05,  is  erroneous.  He  quotes  a  letter  written  by 
Arndt,  June  20,  1807,  from  Stockholm,  to  the  Dean  of  the  Philosophical 
Faculty,  to  the  following  effect  :  "In  the  winter  of  i8co,  I  received  the 
deoree  of  jNIaster  of  the  Philosophical  Faculty  of  Greifswald,  disputing  and 
presiding  according  to  rule  ;  soon  after  received  the  right  of  Docentur  in 
the  same  University  ;  and  in  the  Easter  of  iSoo  began  my  lectures,  which 
were  occupied  chiefly  with  Histoiy  and  the  Greek  language.  In  the 
autumn  of  I  Sol  I  was  advanced  to  be  Adjunct  of  the  Philosophical  Faculty, 
and  in  1806  his  majesty  graciously  appointed  me  Professor  Extraordinary 
of  Philosophy.' 


io8  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800-3. 

Bitter  then  was  my  grief ;  through  months  and  through  years  I  lamented. 
Yet  in  the  shadowy  vale  now  there  was  light  on  my  path  ; 
Had  I  not  seen  the  gods  ?  Heaven's  blessedness,  had  I  not  felt  it  ? 
Had  I  not  lifted  my  life  whither  no  lightning  can  reach  ? 

I   was  connected    with  this   Httle  university  for   ten 
years,  about  half  of  which  I  spent  either  in  Sweden  or 
in  travelhng-,  and  the  other  half  in  teaching.     When  I 
first   entered    upon   my  duties   there   were   some   very 
worthy  old  men  among  the  professors,  and  about  half  a 
dozen  younger  men,  who  for  the  most  part  entered  about 
the  same  time  as  I  did,  and  some   of  whom  became 
famous — Parow,  Rudolphi,  Riihs,  Schildener,  and  Muhr- 
beck.     The  young  blood  thus  introduced  brought  a  little 
life   and   animation   into   sleepy  old    Greifswald.      But 
there  are  evils  connected  with  such  mills  of  learning  as 
are  in  grievous  need  of  water,  i.e.,  students  ;  they  may 
either  become  dried  up  and  exhausted,  or  greatly  pol- 
luted.    On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  danger  of  the 
young  minds   being  over-taxed  through  emulation,  or 
forced   into    premature  ripeness,  and  powers  shattered 
which  might  have  become  useful  in  their  proper  time. 
Many  of  us,  though  we  took  life  easily  according  to  the 
fashion  of  the  times,  were  nevertheless  painstaking  and 
industrious.     We  learnt  much  ourselves  while  teaching, 
for  teaching  is  an  excellent  school,  and  obliges  a  con- 
scientious man  to  arrange  and  set  in  order  the  chaos  of 
information  which  he  has  collected  and  stored  up  in  his 
brain.     I  began  by  teaching  all  kinds  of  things,  which  I 
myself  only  half  understood,  and   ended  by  confining 
myself  to  historical  lectures.     I  had  a  numerous  audience, 
worked  hard,  and  was  in  good  health,  and  still  recall 

*  Written  at  Reichenbach  in  1813. 


^T.  30—33.]  Associates.  109 


those  days  with  pleasure,  though  amid  many  sad  re- 
membrances. Besides  the  young  men  I  have  already 
mentioned,  I  associated  with  several  other  tried  friends, 
whose  names  I  would  mention  with  gratitude — Dr.  Bill- 
roth, Dr.  Gesterding,  who  are  now  both  burgomasters, 
Dr.  Ernst  von  Gagern,  and  Wilhelm  Ledebur,  also  from 
the  Sound,  whom,  alas,  we  buried  young.  Among  the 
elder  men  were  the  physician,  Professor  Weigel,  Pro- 
fessor Muhrbeck,  senior,  General  Superintendent  Schlegel, 
Professor  Dr.  Ziemssen,  Professor  von  Hagemeister, 
and  Sonnenschmidt,  members  of  the  High  Court  of 
Appeal,  my  patrons  and  protectors. 

I  still  often  visited  the  best  of  homes,  besides  my 
patriarch  in  Rugen,  and  General  von  Dyke,  at  Losentitz, 
and  Superintendent  Pritzbur,  at  Gartz,  patriarchs  too, 
though  in  a  different  rank  of  life  from  old  Hinrich  Arndt. 
I  often  felt  a  longing  to  visit  these  fine  old  men,  who 
lived  Avithin  five  or  six  hours'  journey  of  Greifswald,  and 
what  I  owe  to  them  cannot  be  written  down  on  paper. 
They  were  true  metal  stamped  clearly  with  God's  own 
image — three  patriarchs  from  whom  one  could  draw 
strength  when  speculation,  like  an  autumn  wind  blowing 
dismally  through  dry  stubble  and  arid  leaves,  threatened 
to  carry  one  away  into  a  cold,  empty  world  of  mists 
and  shadows. 

It  was  here  that  I  first  became  a  political  writer.  My 
friend  Steffens*  has  written  a  book  entitled  "  How  I  Re- 

*  -Heinrich  Steffens,  bom  in  Norway,  1773.     His  father  Avas  a  German, 

his  mother  a  Dane,  and  his  early  education  chiefly  carried  on  in  Denmark. 

His  strong  religious  feeling  and  gift  of  speaking  attracted  him  to  the  minis- 

■  try,  but  he  was  diverted  from  it  by  his  love  for  natural  science.     Residence 

at  Jena  brought  him  into  contact  with  Fichte,  Schelling,  the  Schlegels, 


no  Life  of  Arndt.  [a. d.  1800— 3. 

turned  to  Lutheranism."     And  so  I,  in  like  manner,  will 
explain  how  a  single  little  germ  became  a  great  political 
plant,  or  weed,   and  in  doing  so  I   am  describing  the 
growth  of  feeling  and  opinion  in  millions  of  German  minds. 
The  beginning  of  the  French  Revolution  is  rightly 
considered  as  the  point  of  transition  between  the  self- 
indulgent,  sentimental,  and  aesthetic  period,  and  a  time 
of  extravagant  opinions  in  philosophy  and  politics,  when 
all  other  feelings  and  interests  were  for  a  time  swallowed 
up.     But,  in  a  certain  sense,  I  had  much  earlier,  even  in 
my  boyish  days,  adopted  many  peculiar  and  one-sided 
opinions,  which  cling  to  me  still  in  my  white-headed  old 
age,   in  spite   of  my   better  judgment   and    experience. 
From   having  to  read  aloud  from   the  newspapers  and 
chronicles,  I  had,  as  a  little  boy  between  the  ages  of  nine 
and  twelve,  become  fixed  in  certain  political  ideas.     I 
use  the  word  intentionally,  for  I  feel  it  to  be  a  fault  in 
me.     I  have  been  always  a  Royalist,  perhaps  to  an  ex- 
travagant degree.     I  think  I  became  so,  like  most  other 
people,  through  the  influences  and  associations  of  my 
earliest  childhood.     My  father  was  not  much  of  a  poli- 
tical man,  even  in  the  years  between    1800  and   1S06, 
when  the  political  storm  rolled  nearer  and  nearer.     He 
let  events  pass  by  him  unmoved,  and  took  no  part  in 

Schleiermacher,  Goethe,  Schiller,  Tieck,  and  other  celebrated  men  of  the 
time.  He  had  immense  influence  over  the  young  men  of  the  universities, 
and  used  it  to  induce  them  to  leave  his  lecture-rooms,  in  1813,  and  join  the 
army.  He  himself  volunteered  and  did  not  leave  the  army  till  after  the 
taking  of  Paris.  After  the  war  he  returned  to  Protestantism,  having  be- 
come a  Roman  Catholic  during  his  residence  at  Breslau,  iSii — 13.  In  1832 
he  was  summoned  to  the  University  of  Berlin,  where  he  died  1845.  Be- 
sides works  on  natural  history,  he  published  several  novels  and  works  on 
religious  subjects. 


^T.  30 — 23-]  MonarcJiist  TcacJiings.  Ill 


the  discussions  and  quarrels  to  Avliich  they  gave  rise. 
It  was  only  the  name  of  Gustavus  III.  which  could 
kindle  any  enthusiasm  in  him.  When  a  young  man  he 
had  seen  this  king  in  Stockholm,  during  the  first  happy 
years  of  his  reign,  and  his  beauty  and  splendour  had 
made  a  deep  impression  on  him.  One  or  two  Swedish 
names  besides  interested  him  a  little,  but  all  others  were 
indifferent  to  him. 

There  were,  however,  two  of  my  friends  who  fanned  the 
fire  in  me,  old  Hinrich,  of  Posewald,  and  my  other  uncle 
and  godfather,  Moritz  Schumacher.    Hinrich  was  entirely 
Swedish — perhaps  his  grandfather  was  revived  in  him — 
and  by  his  vehemence  carried  me  away  with  him  in  his 
love  and  veneration  for  Sweden.     As  far  as  was  possible 
to   one  in  his  humble  position  he  lived  in  her  history 
and  in  all  connected  with  the  great  North  German  and 
Scandinavian  Lutherdom,  and  so  to  him  the  magnificent 
Vasa,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  was  well  worth  millions  of 
other  kings.     How  then  could  I  help  adoring  kings  and 
placing  them  above  all  republics,  whether  of  Greece, 
Rome,  Plato,  or  Fichte }     Moritz  Schumacher,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  an  ardent  Prussian,  quite  against  the 
prejudices   of  most  of  m}^  country  people,  who  being 
used  to  the  careless  good-humoured  laxity  and  individual 
freedom  of  the  Swedish  rule,  connected  everything  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Peene  with  military  despotism  and 
heavy  taxes.     These  Prussian  prepossessions  came  quite 
naturally  to  one  of  Moritz  Schumacher's  character  and 
disposition.      He  was   a  handsome  personable  dapper 
man,  with  an  excellent  voice  and  other  gifts,  fond  of 
show  and  veneer.     My  father  was  a  countryman,  and 


J 12  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  iSoo- 


though  not  uneducated  quite  unpretending,  never  trying 
to  push  himself  into  aristocratic  society.     But  my  uncle 
Moritz  was  quite  another  sort  of  man.     Riigen  at  that 
time  swarmed  far  more  than  now  with  petty  noblemen, 
who  had  served  in  their  youth  as  officers  in  the  Prussian 
army.     These  he  diligently  hunted    out,  and  used  to 
repeat  every  word  of  the   "gracious  Herr  Captain  or 
Rittmeister,"  every  remark  which  the  "gracious  lady" 
had  let  fall  in  his  presence ;  an  apple  or  pear  which  a 
Frau   Majorin  or   a   "gracious  Fraulein "   had    slipped 
into   his   pocket   acquired    a   taste  and  smell  equal  to 
those    that   were    gathered    in    Paradise.      He   carried 
himself  like   an   old    Prussian    Rittmeister,   adopted    a 
military  saddle,  boots,  and  spurs,  and  cocked   his  hat 
over  his  pigtail  and  curls.     He   took   a  Prussian  tone 
from  the  society  he  frequented.     And  how  could  such 
men  as  these   fail   to   adore  the    name   and   deeds   of 
the  great  Frederick  1     He  thus  introduced  the  odour  of 
this  martial  devotion  into  our  house,  and  on  his  side 
also  breathed  something  royalistic  into  me.     This  great 
royal   figure  was   continually  before   me  in  my  child- 
hood, and  inclined  the  bent  of  my  political  faith  toward 
monarchism.     I  have  since  been  accused  of  despising 
the  great  hero  ;  I  do  not  think  I  have  deserved  it.    Thus 
it  was  quite  in  accordance  with  these  youthful  impres- 
sions that  I,  the  little  newspaper  reader,  always  took  the 
part  of  England  against  America,  when  most  of  the 
older  people  were  partisans  of  the  latter. 

And  the  French  and  I .!"  In  that  matter,  too,  my 
political  creed  dates  from  my  early  youth.  I  have  men- 
tioned several  times  already,  how  in  the  time  when  from 


JET.  20 — 33.]  French  Antipathies.  113 

my  parents'  narrow  circumstances  all  regular  education 
was  denied  me,  my  mind  was  fed  with  the  constant 
reading  of  old  histories  and  chronicles.  Among  these 
were  Puffendorf's  books,  and  other  German  works  and 
translations,  describing  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  the 
ambitious  intrigues  and  sanguinary  deeds  of  Louis  XIV. 
This  inspired  me  with  a  dislike,  almost  abhorrence,  for 
the  whole  nation  which  took  part  in  them  ;  and  I  used  to 
rejoice  over  every  one  of  their  defeats,  and  became  quite 
an  Englishman  in  my  hatred  of  them. 

Then  in  my  early  youth  the  great  French  Revolution 
broke  out,  shaking  and  transforming  the  minds  of  half 
Europe.  It  was  the  subject  of  vehement  debate  every- 
where as  well  as  in  my  own  home,  where  it  had  more 
friends  than  foes,  and  in  spite  of  my  hatred  to  the 
nation,  I  often  took  part  with  the  first,  because  the 
crimes  of  the  governments  before  Louis  XVI.  were 
terrible,  and  because  many  of  the  doctrines  and  opinions 
propagated  by  the  revolutionary  leaders  were  undeniably 
just  and  holy,  however  much  they  may  have  been  after- 
wards profaned  and  disgraced.  Yet  I  chafed  at  every 
French  victory  over  the  Germans  and  their  allies,  although 
I  did  not  as  yet  own  full  allegiance  to  Germany.  I, 
on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  was  far  from  the  scene  of 
tumult,  and  was  still  at  heart  more  Swedish  than 
German.  I  was  vehement  and  impulsive,  and  certainly 
not  of  a  servile  nature,  but  I  was  not  born  to  throw 
myself  into  the  misty  chaos  of  conflicting  opinions  and 
passions,  with  the  fanaticism  which  called  forth  old 
Klopstock's  songs.     Perhaps  I  was  too  much  of  a  born 

8 


114  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800—3. 

Philistine,  and  was  too  eager  to  know  all  about  every- 
thing. 

This  Philistine  nature,  which  refuses  to  recognise  the 
noblest  and  highest  in  its  most  poetical  purity,  perhaps 
displayed  itself  in  the  verses  from  Horace  which  I  used 
to  write  in  the  albums  of  my  fellow-students,  such  as 
Nil  admirari  and  Perfcr  et  ohdiira.  So  early  did  I  strive 
against  even  the  most  noble  delusions. 

Lastly,  I  had  seen  the  nation  itself,  and  its  amiability 
and  light-heartedness  as  well  as  its  treacherousness  and 
deceitfulness  were  well  known  to  me.  I  had  returned 
home  slowly  through  Belgium  and  along  the  Rhine, 
stopping  at  Brussels,  Aix-la-Chapelle.  Cologne,  Coblentz, 
and  Mainz,  and  I  had  seen  everywhere  the  old  German 
splendour  overthrown  and  trodden  under  foot  by  this 
insolent  people.  It  depressed  and  irritated  me,  but  did 
not  produce  real  anger.  In  Frankfort  and  at  Hochst,  I 
got  among  the  combatants.  I  was  shut  up  in  Frankfort 
for  several  days  by  the  French  general  Baraguay  d'Hil- 
liers.  Skirmishers  were  scattered  about  on  both  banks 
of  the  Maine,  Albini's  Spessart  Landsturm  were  raging 
all  round  me.  It  was  not  much  more  to  me  than  a  play, 
but  I  should  have  been  most  heartily  rejoiced  if  the 
French  round  the  walls  of  Frankfort  had  been  all  struck 
dead  in  one  night  by  an  angel  of  God,  like  the  host  of 
Sennacherib.  However,  it  was  not  long  before  my  anger 
awoke,  not  indeed  to  my  happiness,  though  it  supported 
me  in  many  melancholy  days,  and  gave  me  a  kind  of 
happiness  in  the  worst  times.  For  a  man  is  only  happy 
when  he  is  under  powerful  emotions,  that  is,  so  long  as 


^x.  30—33.]  Love  to  Germany.  i  r  5 


the  emotion  does  not  deprive  him  of  the  power  of 
thought,  otherwise  it  is  a  crushing  millstone. 

Napoleon  returned  from  Egypt  some  days  after  I 
left  Paris.  I  watched  the  course  of  the  ruling  spirit  of 
the  age,  his  manoeuvres,  his  battles,  his  glory,  his  con- 
quests. Did  I  perfectly  understand  him .'  I  do  not 
know ;  but  after  the  battle  of  Marengo  a  horror  of  the  man 
took  hold  of  me — of  the  man  who  was  idolised  by  so 
many  and  great  men.  It  was  an  unconscious  foreboding 
of  the  misery  of  the  next  ten  years.  But  anger,  and 
anger  which  became  almost  fury,  during  the  period  of 
German  and  European  shame,  came  with  the  peace  of 
Luneville,  and  with  the  shameful  negotiations  and  bar- 
gainings with  which  Talleyrand  and  Maret  cut  away  and 
sold  great  pieces  of  the  Fatherland.  The  years  1805-6 
tore  away  the  last  supports  on  Avhich  Germany  had 
seemed  to  rest.  All  was  over,  and  every  German,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  the  most  illustrious  as  well  as 
the  most  obscure,  lay  together  under  the  burden  of  one 
common  disaster,  while  the  overbearing  foreign  cock 
crowed  his  "Victoria"  over  the  ruins  of  their  fallen 
glory.  The  day  had  come  when  all  individual  feelings, 
opinions,  prejudices,  likes  and  dislikes,  must  give  way. 
What  kings  and  emperors  had  lost,  lesser  people  must 
also  learn  to  give  up.  When  Austria  and  Prussia  had 
fallen  after  vain  struggles,  then  first  I  began  to  love 
Germany  truly,  and  to  hate  the  foreigner  with  an  utter 
hatred. 

It  was  not  Napoleon  only  ;  not  the  cunning,  taciturn, 
sneering  Corsican,  born  in  the  land  where  honey  is 
poison,  who  has  been  made  a  scapegoat  on  which  the 

8—2 


ii6  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800— 3. 

anger  of  Europe  should  be  heaped,  whom  I  hated  most ; 
it  was  the  French — the  deceitful,  the  insolent,  covetous 
French — for  centuries  the  cunning  and  faithless  enemies 
of  the  empire.  I  hated  them  with  entire  hatred,  and 
recognised  my  Fatherland,  and  loved  it  with  entire 
love.  My  Swedish  predilections  were  once  and  for  ever 
dead.  The  Swedish  heroes  were  nothing  any  more  to  me 
but  legends  of  the  past.  When  Germany,  through  its  dis- 
cords, had  fallen  to  nothing,  I  recognised  its  true  unity. 

I  published,  almost  at  the  same  time,  two  little  poli- 
tical works;*  the  first,  under  the  title  of  "Germanien  und 
Europa"  ("Germany  and  Europe  "),  was  nothing  more 
than  a  rather  wild  outpouring  of  my  opinions  upon  the 
state  of  the  world  in  1802.  It  serves  as  a  commentary 
on  the  first  part  of  the  "  Geist  der  Zeit"  ("  Spirit  of  the 
Age"),  of  which  it  was  a  preamble  and  precursor.  The 
book,  as  a  book,  is  badly  written  ;  the  style  is  frequently 
careless  ;  here  and  there  the  words  and  phrases  are  un- 
German.  It  is  very  unequal  in  parts,  the  material  not 
sufficiently  mastered,  the  contrasts  too  abrupt,  the 
theoretical  part  loose,  misty,  uncertain,  and  frequently 
false.  The  practical  part  shows  a  clear  and  healthy 
insight  and  foresight.  In  short,  the  intellectual  part  of 
the  book  gives  evidence  of  an  uncertain  hand. 

The  second  publication,  "  Geschichte  der  Leibeigen- 
schaft  in  Pommern  und  Riigen"  (the  "  History  of  Serf- 
dom in  Pomerania  and  Riigen"),  touched  upon  an  evil 
nearer  home.  Friends  warned  me  not  to  write  this  book  ; 
but  I  persisted,  though  neither  fame  nor  favour  was  to 

*  He  had  already  in  iSoo  published  a  little  book  entitled  "  Ueber  die 
Freiheit  der  alten  Republiken,"  (The  Freedom  of  the  old  Eepublics,)  but 
it  had  received  very  little  notice. 


^T.  30—33]  "^^^^  History  of  Serfdovi.  WJ 

be  got  by  it.     I  wrote  it  in   the   firm   conviction  that 
history  must  not  yield  an  inch  of  her  sacred  rights,  and 
whoever  feels  himself  a  coward  is  unworthy  to  approach 
the  illustrious  judge  of  past  and   present.     I  prepared 
myself  for  writing  it — not  by  the  study  of  the  windy 
doctrines  and  noisy  nothings  of  the  day,  but  by  travel- 
ling in  the  secure  road  of  written  records  and  personal 
experience.     People  who  will  not  believe  that  even  a 
Tiberius  once  said, — words  which  I  chose  for  the  motto 
on  the  title-page  of  the  book, — that  "  In  a  free  State 
tongues  and  minds  must  be  free" — people  who  really 
almost  seem  to  think  that  one  half  of  mankind  comes 
into  the  w^orld  saddled  and  bridled,  and  the  other  half 
booted  and  spurred,  to  ride  upon  them — such  people 
declared  that  I  had  committed  a  State  crime  because  I 
had  brought  to  light  abuses  which  had  gone  on,  un- 
fortunately, for  only  too  many  years.* 
Its  contents  were  something  as  follows  : 
The   islands   and  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  according  to 
historical   probability,  were  not  originally  inhabited   by 
Slavs  and  Wends.     The  shock  of  the  destruction  of  the 
great  empire  of  the  Goths  by  the  Huns  in  the  last  half 
of  the   fourth  century,  the   continual   pressing   of  the 
Huns  towards   the   west,  caused    the  great  movement 
which  is  known  as  the  migration  of  the  nations.     We 
have  scarcely  a  glimmer  of  light  on  the  events  which 
took   place   on  the  Vistula  and  Oder ;  but  about  that 
time  it  appears  that  the  Slavs  and  Wends  were  pushed 
farther   towards  the   west,  and  took  possession  of  the 
forsaken  or  depopulated  districts  of  East  Germany. 

*  Nothiredrunirener  Bericht. 


ii8  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800— 3. 

When  the  Germans,  who  had  declined  in  importance 
after  the  time  of  Charles  the  Great,  rose  again  under  the 
Saxon  emperors  in  the  tenth  century,  they  began  to 
extend  their  dominion  towards  the  north-east.  These 
emperors  waged  a  war  against  the  Slavonian  nations, 
which  was  carried  on  by  them  and  their  successors  to 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  which,  in  spite  of  the 
most  courageous  and  obstinate  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  Slavs,  ended  in  their  subjection  or  extermination. 

The  German  dominion  advanced,  towns  and  fortresses 
were  built,  from  which  for  the  most  part  the  Wends 
were  excluded.  The  immigration  of  Germans  was  en- 
couraged, and  they  were  planted  in  the  devastated  lands 
of  the  conquered  Wends,  and  all  which  had  in  earlier 
times  been  German  became  thus  by  degrees  re-Ger- 
manised. 

From  the  earliest  period  when  history  begins  to  con- 
cern itself  about  these  regions,  we  find  almost  everywhere 
in  Pomerania  and  Riigen  serfdom  or  villenage  of  a  more 
or  less  severe  nature  existing,  but  not  of  the  arbitrary 
and  despotic  character  belonging  to  it  in  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries.  In  the  laws  of  the  sixteenth 
century  we  find  the  dues  and  services  in  almost  every 
place  carefully  defined  and  limited,  and  no  nobleman 
could  arbitrarily  destroy  farms  or  districts  held  by 
peasants,  and  change  them  into  large  estates. 

It  appears  also  that  in  the  island  of  Riigen,  where,  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  the  despotism  and  oppression  of 
the  nobles  were  the  most  unrestrained,  and  the  thraldom 
and  dependence  of  the  poor  people  the  most  complete, 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  the  peasant  had 


^T.  30— 33-]  Serfdom.  ■    119 

been  in  a  much  better  and  more  independent  position 
than  even  in  Pomerania.  We  have  a  document  on  the 
subject  of  the  relations  between  master  and  serf,  written 
by  a  nobleman  of  Riigen,  Governor  von  Normann  auf 
Tribberatz,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Customs  of  Rugen."  Of  course  the  governor, 
being  a  noble  landowner,  would  have  no  partiality  for  the 
peasants.  Nor  is  he  silent  on  the  subject  of  their  faults 
and  vices  ;  but  represents  them  as  insolent,  quarrelsome, 
haughty,  and  violent,  and  in  ungoverned  arrogance  almost 
the  equals  of  the  young  nobles.  These  vices  were  the 
natural  and  miserable  consequences  of  too  much  pros- 
perity and  unlimited  freedom.  It  is  clear,  from  the 
public  registers,  that  a  Riigen  peasant  spending  money 
on  an  estate  tenanted  by  him  obtained  a  just  profit,  and 
that  if  he  left  the  estate  willingly,  or  upon  notice  served 
him  by  his  master — a  power  which  was  limited  by  legal 
regulations — the  whole  property,  together  with  the  build- 
ings, crops,  and  stores,  was  to  be  compensated  for,  and 
on  his  departure  he  was  made  free  of  any  service,  and  as 
a  freeman  might  go  where  he  liked.  On  the  death  of 
one  possessor,  and  the  accession  of  another,  the  heriot 
and  the  profit  had  to  be  paid  off.  In  courts  of  justice, 
whether  courts  of  the  manor,  "Gard"  courts,^  or  pro- 
vincial courts,  the  peasants  sat  among  the  nobles  as  judges 
and  protectors  of  their  rights,  and — that  which  much 
displeases  the  old  governor  in  his  aristocratic  exclusive- 

*  From  "Gard,"  a  "Burg,"  or  fortress.  These  courts  were  peculiar 
to  the  isle  of  Riigen,  and  exercised  jurisdiction  over  all  persons  and 
property  not  coming  immediately  under  that   of  the   nobles,    cities,    or 

"  Landvogts." 


I20  Life  of  At'ndt.  [a.d.  1800—3. 


ness, — they  also  frequently  married  their  sons  and 
daughters  into  noble  families. 

In  this  century  we  find,  both  in  Pomerania  and  Rugen, 
a  great  many  single  farms,  and  even  whole  villages,  of 
which  there  is  not  a  trace  left  in  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth. 

After  the  disappearance  of  the  old  ruling  race,  the 
Swedes,  by  the  peace  which  ended  the  terrible  Thirty 
Years'  War,  came  into  possession  of  the  land  desolated, 
depopulated,  and  enslaved,  and  in  this  condition  they 
undertook  to  rule  it,  knowing  and  caring  little  about  its 
previous  state.  The  best  of  its  rulers  and  administrators 
were  influenced  then  and  afterwards  by  the  opinions  and 
prejudices  of  the  Pomeranian  nobility  and  Pomeranian 
jurists,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  the  famous  Mowe,  after- 
wards Von  Mevius,  who  explained  the  German  land  laws 
according  to  the  later  Roman  jurisprudence.  Thus  the 
liberties  of  the  people  in  this  district  rapidly  disap- 
peared, and  all  their  rights,  which  had  at  least  the  sanc- 
tion of  custom  and  precedent,  were  explained  away,  till 
they  were  reduced  to  a  state  of  the  most  abject  servitude. 

So  it  came  to  pass,  after  the  close  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  between  the  years  1760 — 90,  that  the  peasantry  were 
everywhere  not  only  burdened  with  a  service  to  which 
there  was  no  limit,  but  were  almost  extirpated  by  the 
conversion  of  the  land  belonging  to  the  peasant  com- 
munities into  large  noblemen's  estates.  The  rage  for  the 
suppression  of  the  peasant  districts  did  not  merely  in- 
fluence a  few  individuals  among  the  nobility,  but  took 
possession  also  of  the  managers  of  the  Domanium,  and 


^i.  30—3.        Stippressioji  of  Peasant  Commtmes.  1 2 1 

of  the  estates  belonging  to  towns  and  institutions,  although 
the  peasants  who  were  attached  to  the  last-named  pos- 
sessions could  not  be  subjected  to  arbitrary  rule  or  ill- 
treatment.  In  short,  in  the  year  1800,  Lichtenberg's 
joke  that  he  would  offer  a  prize  for  the  discovery  of  a 
salve  to  be  rubbed  on  peasants  so  that  they  might  be 
shorn  two  or  three  times  a  year,  was  [still  most  fully  ap- 
plicable to  Swedish  Pomerania.  I  had  been  an  eye- 
witness of  this  oppression,  and  had  been  enraged  by  it. 
Many  communes  had  disappeared  from  Rugen  even  in 
my  days,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  farms  had  been 
driven  out  homeless  and  impoverished,  so  that  many  who 
had  formerly  employed  servants  now  themselves  had  to 
serve  on  the  larger  farms.  Some  noblemen  even  made 
it  a  practice  to  buy  large  communes,  destroying  the 
buildings  and  gardens  upon  them,  laying  them  out  on  a 
larger  scale,  and  then  selling  them  again  at  a  profit  of 
twenty  thousand  or  thirty  thousand  thalers.  This  caused 
actual  riots  among  the  peasants  in  some  places,  which 
had  to  be  put  down  by  military  force  and  imprisonment. 
It  was  also  whispered,  though  the  matter  was  hushed  up, 
that  some  bad  noblemen  and  farmers  had,  like  Tiberius, 
been  smothered  in  their  beds.  But  these  horrid  rumours 
only  served  as  a  temporary  warning,  and  things  went  on 
again  in  the  old  hateful  way. 

Not  only  was  a  master  of  a  hard,  unpitying  nature,  or 
one  sunk  in  debt,  at  liberty  to  devastate  the  land,  but 
the  persons  of  his  serfs  being  bound  to  the  soil  were  in 
his  power.  In  almost  every  German  province,  where 
serfdom  or  villenage  was  still  in  force,  established  custom 


122  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800—3. 

or  a  definite  law  had  fixed  a  moderate  sum  for  which  a 
man,  woman,  or  child  could  buy  his  liberty.  This  was 
usually  at  the  rate  of  from  twelve  to  twenty  thalers  for  a 
man,  ten  for  a  woman,  five  for  a  child.  But  here  there 
was  neither  established  custom  nor  definite  law,  and  many 
a  master  demanded  as  much  as  one  hundred  and  fifty 
for  the  freedom  of  a  fine  strong  young  man,  fifty  or  sixty 
for  a  girl,  and  they  might  refuse  to  liberate  at  any  price. 

According  to  law,  the  peasant  whose  land  was  ab- 
sorbed was  allowed  to  go  out  free,  with  his  whole  family 
and  all  his  live  stock,  which  was  often  considerable.  For 
there  were  peasants  who  possessed  as  many  as  twelve 
horses,  ten  or  twelve  cows,  together  with  oxen,  pigs, 
sheep,  and  poultry.  If  he  had  really  been  obliged  to 
give  up  all  this,  many  a  bad  master  would  have  thought 
twice  before  he  decided  upon  turning  his  tenant  out  and 
destroying  the  farm.  I  stirred  up  my  brother  Fritz,  who 
was  living  as  a  lawyer  at  Bergen,  in  Riigen,  of  which 
place  he  afterwards  became  mayor,  and  he  instituted 
several  lawsuits  against  noblemen,  and  obtained  decisions 
in  favour  of  the  peasants.  He  drew  down  upon  himself 
in  consequence  bitter  hatred,  to  the  loss  and  prejudice 
both  of  his  income  and  position,  though  at  the  same 
time  he  won  several  faithful  friends  from  among  the 
better  class  of  the  nobility.  Among  these  were  the 
worthy  old  Herr  von  Scheelen,  of  Stedar,  and  Baron  von 
Barnekow,  who  lived  at  the  little  paradise  of  Ralswyk. 

My  little  book  was  naturally  very  distasteful  and 
alarming  not  only  to  the  nobility,  whom  I  had  attacked 
most  severely,  but  also  to  the  semi-nobility  and  to  many 


JET.  30—33.]     Accused  of  Seditious  Tendencies.  123 


rich  farmers  of  aristocratic  tendencies,  who  vociferated 
that  I  was  a  dangerous  person,  and  a  stirrer-up  of  the 
people.  ]\Iany  of  the  critics  even  cast  this  in  my  teeth, 
and  one  asserted,  in  so  many  words,  that  the  relations 
between  the  great  landowners  and  the  peasants  in  Swedish 
Pomerania  were  not  so  bad,  and  that  it  was  clear  from 
my  writings  that  I  belonged  to  the  peasantry,  and  had 
suffered  from  oppression  in  my  own  family,  and  that  this 
had  made  me,  though  perhaps  unconsciously  and  un- 
intentionally, represent  things  in  a  one-sided  and  partial 
manner. 

I  must  take  this  opportunity  of  speaking  ex  dovio  pro 
donio.  My  father  was  certainly  a  shepherd's  son  and  a 
count's  freedman,  but  from  my  childhood  up  I  had  never 
suffered  anything  from  my  position.  While  I  was  still  a 
child  he  had  become  an  independent  and  respected 
Stralsund  farmer.  Before  I  was  grown  up  he  had  re- 
moved to  the  beautiful  estate  of  Lobnitz,  once  a  count's 
seat,  and  had  authority  and  patrimonial  jurisdiction  over 
at  least  three  hundred  souls.  This  patrimonial  jurisdic- 
tion, which  some  have  dared  to  hold  up  to  admiration  as 
the  beautiful  patriarchal  relation  between  the  great  land- 
owner and  his  peasants,  was  enjoyed  so  irresponsibly 
and  treated  as  of  so  little  importance,  that  not  merely 
the  nobles,  but  even  the  royal  Domanium  itself  let  it  out 
to  the  highest  bidder,  though  he  might  be  of  the  lowest 
and  roughest  class.  My  father  was  not  a  man  to  abuse 
his  power  from  covetousness,  hard-heartedness,  or  cruelty, 
but  I  have  witnessed  the  commission  of  much  wanton 
injustice  by  others,  even  after  the  appointment  of  a  very 


124  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800—3. 

worthy  and  learned  attorney,  Sonnenschmidt,  afterwards 
member  of  the  High  Court  of  Appeal,  to  watch  over 
these  petty  tribunals,  whose  frequent  acts  of  injustice 
and  oppression  had  become  so  notorious.  And  great 
was  my  joy  when  the  exposure  of  these  secret  abuses 
caused  these  courts  to  be  replaced  by  public  district 
tribunals. 

But  I  did  not  merely  suffer  from  abuse  and  hatred ; 
a  formal  accusation  was  brought  against  me.  Several 
noblemen,  led  by  a  Baron  Schultz  von  Ascheraden  auf 
Schloss  Nehringen,  near  Demmin,  one  of  those  who 
had  bought  and  transformed  communal  districts  by  way 
of  speculation,  as  above  described,  and  two  brothers  Von 
Bagewitz,  of  Riigen,  who  thought  themselves  very  wise 
in  their  generation,  conspired  together,  and  brought  my 
book  under  the  notice  of  King  Gustavus  IV.,  having 
previously  underlined  several  passages  in  it,  in  which  I 
had  expressed,  as  they  considered,  too  freely  and  impro- 
perly my  opinion  of  the  conduct  of  some  long-deceased 
Swedish  rulers  in  the  government  of  my  native  land. 

These  gentlemen  would  gladly  have  entangled  me  in 
an  accusation  of  high  treason.  The  king,  in  his  first 
irritation,  sent  the  book  with  its  dangerous  dashes  to 
Baron   von  Essen,*   then    Governor  of  Pomerania  and 

*  Hans  Henrik  von  Essen,  bom  1755,  one  of  the  handsome  favourites  of 
Gustavus  III.,  whom  he  accompanied  in  his  travels.  He  was  with  the  king 
at  the  fatal  masquerade,  and  enjoyed  for  some  time  the  favour  of  his  suc- 
cessor, Gustavus  IV.,  by  whom  he  was  appointed  to  be  governor  of  Pome- 
rania and  Riigen.  During  the  unfortunate  closing  years  of  Gusta\'iis  IV.  he 
was  in  disgrace,  but  Clrarles  XIII.  recalled  him  and  made  him  a  count. 
In  1814  he  became  field-marshal,  and  subsequently  Chancellor  of  Norway. 
He  died  in  1824. 


^T.  30-33-]  The  King  Satisfied.  125 


Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Greifswald,  commanding 
him  to  bring  the  audacious  author  to  trial.  General  von 
Essen  invited  me  to  Stralsund,  pointed  out  to  me  the 
persons  of  my  accusers,  who  had  however  discovered 
themselves  in  other  ways,  and  showed  me  the  dangerous 
red  lines,  asking  how  I  thought  I  could  get  out  of  this 
bad  business,  for  the  king  seemed  to  be  much  irritated 
and  excited.  I  asked  for  the  book  and  a  pen,  and  under- 
lined a  number  of  passages  in  which  the  cruelty  and 
injustice  of  the  whole  state  of  things  was  represented, 
and  begged  him  to  bring  these  before  his  Majesty's  con- 
sideration. This  he  did,  and  the  king  answered  :  "  If 
things  are  so  indeed,  the  man  is  in  the  right." 

So  I  went  back  to  Greifswald  without  a  hair  of  my 
head  being  hurt.  Perhaps  the  passages  which  I  under- 
lined may  have  contributed  to  the  abolition  within  a  few 
years  of  serfdom  by  this  king,  and  to  the  substitution  of 
royal  courts  of  justice  for  patrimonial  jurisdiction. 

The  history  of  this  change  as  given  in  the  following  extract 
from  a  later  work  of  Aindt's  is  interesting  as  throwing  some 
light  on  a  matter  which  seems  not  very  familiar  to  English 
readers. 

The  first  war  of  the  French  Revolution  came  to  an 
end  in  1 80 1.  It  had  really  been  a  European  struggle, 
though  the  next  one  was  the  first  to  be  called  so.  France 
was  calm  again  after  a  long  and  bloody  time  of  tumult 
and  change.  A  bold  and  cunning  Corsican  had  placed 
himself  on  the  throne  of  her  old  kings,  and  governed  and 
kept  in  awe  her  unruly  people  with  a  strong  hand.  The 
kings  and  princes  of  Europe  feared  and  hated  the  success 


126  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800— 3. 

and  ambition  of  a  man  \\\\o  seemed  to  them  only  a  for- 
tunate adventurer,  and  the  war  of  1805  broke  out.  But 
Napoleon,  the  Emperor  of  France,  brought  it  to  a  close 
within  two  months  with  unprecedented  good  fortune, 
and  dictated  his  conditions.  The  old  constitution  of 
Germany  was  abolished,  the  Emperor  of  Germany  re- 
nounced th^  empire  and  the  imperial  dignity,  and  the 
miserable  Confederation  of  the  Rhine*  was  formed, 
which  included  most  of  the  States  of  South  Germany. 
The  North  German  States  floated  like  islands  with  no 
foundation  on  the  wide  and  now  shoreless  German  Ocean, 
seeking  in  vain  for  a  firm  spot  to  which  to  anchor  them- 
selves. At  this  time  the  King  of  Sweden,  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  was  in  Germany.  He  was  at  the  head  of  a 
combined  army  of  Swedes  and  Russians,  which  had  been 
collected  to  fight  against  France.  He  marched  as  far  as 
the  Weser,  where  his  army  was  joined  by  twenty  thousand 
English.  The  battle  of  Austerlitz  and  the  peace  of 
Presburg  put  a  too  speedy  termination  to  a  war  which 
was  to  have  crushed  Napoleon,  and  towards  the  spring 
the  king  Avith  his  little  army,  which  Napoleon  called  a 

*  Confederation  of  the  Rhine.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  of  1805  so 
disasti"ous  to  Austria,  several  German  princes  showed  a  disposition  for  an 
alliance  with  France,  and  on  July  12,  iSo5,  sixteen  German  princes,  by  an 
act  signed  at  Paris,  renounced  their  allegiance  to  the  empire,  and  formed 
themselves  into  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine.  Napoleon  assumed  the 
protectorate  of  this  alliance,  and  its  members  bound  themselves  to  take  up 
arms  at  his  invitation,  and  to  look  upon  any  French  war  as  their  own. 
During  the  time  when  Napoleon's  power  was  at  its  height,  the  Confedera- 
tion included  four  kings,  five  grand  dukes,  eleven  dukes,  and  sixteen  princes. 
Their  troops  fought  in  Spain,  and  afterwards  in  Russia,  where  the  greater 
number  of  them  perished.  At  the  downfall  of  Napoleon,  the  Confederation 
naturally  broke  up.  Some  of  its  members  lost  their  territory  inconsequence 
of  their  connection  with  it. 


iET.  30 — 33.]      TJie  New  Pomeranian  Co7istitution.  127 

"Stockholm  Parade,"  came  back  to  Pomerania.  And  here, 
too,  this  spring  a  new  order  of  things  was  to  arise.  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus  wanted  to  create  a  Landwehr  of  five 
thousand  men  in  Pomerania  and  Riigen.  He  wished 
also  to  make  other  innovations.  The  States  and  the 
Government  appealed  to  the  privileges  of  the  country, 
and  remonstrated.  The  king,  who  probably  wished  for 
this  result,  at  once  took  decisive  measures,  and  declared 
that  he  could  not  hold  himself  bound  by  the  Constitution 
and  its  laws,  as  it  had  no  longer  any  foundation,  since 
the  German  Empire  had  ceased  to  exist.  The  emperor 
had  abdicated,  a  new  order  of  things  had  been  imposed 
by  foreign  power,  all  old  ties  had  been  severed,  and 
princes  and  their  lands  separated.  Pomerania  could  not 
pretend  to  exist  as  a  little  German  Empire  by  itself,  and 
therefore  he  declared  the  old  Constitution  abrogated. 
But  it  was  in  no  way  his  intention  to  rule  with  despotic 
power.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  his  wish  to  procure  for 
his  German  territories  the  happiness  of  the  Swedish  Con- 
stitution, which  was  more  free  and  more  just  than  that 
which  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed. 

Soon  after  this  declaration,  in  the  summer  of  the  year 
1806,  the  king  put  forth  an  edict  abolishing  serfdom 
within  certain  limitations,  and  not  long  after  summoned 
a  general  Landtag  for  Pomerania  and  Rugen  to  meet  at 
Greifswald,  in  which  the  new  order  of  things  was  to  be 
discussed,  and  consultations  held  as  to  the  necessities  of 
the  country  under  its  present  circumstances.  At  this 
Landtag,  according  to  the  Swedish  fashion,  four  estates 
were  represented — that  is,  besides  the  nobility  and  the 


128  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800— 3. 


towns,  the  clergy  and  the  peasants.  At  the  same  time, 
the  revision  of  the  Swedish  law  by  a  committee,  formed 
both  of  Swedes  and  Germans,  was  begun  in  Sweden,  for 
Swedish  civil  law  was  to  be  introduced  on  this  side  of 
the  sea.  The  king  presided  over  the  Landtag  with  great 
earnestness  and  ceremony,  and  formed  with  his  council- 
lors many  schemes  for  the  improvement  of  the  country. 
Then  came  Napoleon  again,  with  war  in  his  train,  from, 
the  south-west.  The  king  returned  to  Sweden,  and  in 
the  February  of  1S07  a  French  army  swept  over  the 
whole  country,  except  Riigen,  which  was  protected  by 
the  mildness  of  the  winter  and  Stralsund,  in  which  lay  a 
garrison  of  ten  thousand  men. 

Many  dissentient  voices  were  raised  in  opposition  to 
the  peasants  being  admitted  to  the  dignity  of  an  estate 
of  the  realm,  and  being  summoned  to  the  meeting  of  the 
Landtag.  It  must  have  been  hard  for  the  masters  to  see 
those  whom  they  had  been  accustomed  to  consider  as 
their  bondservants  thus  put  on  an  equality  with  them- 
selves. But  they  were  not  wrong  when  they  maintained 
that  the  representatives  of  the  peasantry  were  not  free 
and  independent  men  ;  that  they  were  dependent  on  the 
king,  and  must  follow  his  plans  blindly,  and  were,  there- 
fore, entirely  incapable  of  being  courageous  champions 
of  their  rights.  For,  as  there  were  absolutely  no  free 
peasants  in  the  country,  and  as  those  on  the  noblemen's 
estates  had  been  almost  entirely  rooted  out,  and  the  king 
wished  to  have  the  form  at  least  of  a  Swedish  Parliament 
immediately,  the  royal  farmers  and  farm  labourers  were 
chosen  for  the  purpose.     They  were  called  together  ac- 


-33-]  Abolition  of  Serfdom.  129 

cording  to  their  districts,  and  chose  from  among  them- 
selves their  delegates  and  speaker,  and  the  king,  accord- 
ing to  Swedish  custom,  appointed  a  lawyer  as  secretary 
for  the  Landtag.  Thus,  they  were  indeed  not  inde- 
pendent men ;  but  the  king's  schemes  tended  to  make 
them,  so,  and  gradually  to  form  a  free  order  of  pea- 
sants. 

He  and  his  Swedes,  who  were  accustomed  to  a  more 
humane  and  regulated  condition  of  things  than  was  to 
be  found  among  this  little  people,  had  soon  discovered 
where  the  root  of  the  evil  lay, — in  serfdom  and  oppres- 
sion, and  in  the  destruction  of  the  peasant  class.  They 
saw  the  large  estates  ;  they  raw  the  great  royal  farms  ; 
and  around  the  first  there  were  scarcely  any  peasant  com- 
munities left,  and  not  enough  around  the  latter.  The 
king  determined  to  begin  where  his  hands  were  free. 
As  the  leases  of  the  Crown  farms  fell  in,  they  were  to  be 
cut  up  into  several  little  estates,  according  to  their  size  and 
the  value  of  the  land,  on  each  of  which  one  family  was 
to  live.  The  idea,  according  to  the  royal  declaration, 
was,  indeed,  only  that  of  a  long  lease  ;  but  if  the  king's 
circumstances  had  only  allowed  him  to  carry  it  into 
execution  they  would  soon  have  followed  the  Swedish 
model,  and  the  little  pieces  of  land  would  have  become 
actual  properties,  as  has  been  the  case  in  Sweden  with 
land  belonging  to  the  Crown  peasants,  who  have  come 
into  actual  possession  of  the  land,  and  have  been  raised 
to  the  rank  of  free  peasants. 

Besides  the  edict  for  the  abolition  of  serfdom,  which 
w^as  to  come  into  effect  after  the  lapse  of  four  years — in 
1 8 10 — the    king    issued    one    abolishing    the    so-called 

9 


130  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1800— 3. 


"  patrimonial  courts,"  which  had  been  guilty  of  many- 
abuses,  and  frequent  acts  of  tyranny. 

The  country  was  divided  into  circuits,  and  courts  were 
appointed  for  each  district  which  contained  from  fifteen 
thousand  to  twenty-five  thousand  souls.  In  the  course 
often  years  these  courts  have  had  opportunities  of  show- 
ing their  moderation,  and  the  benefit  they  are  to  the 
whole  district. 

But  many  of  the  other  schemes  of  Gustavus  Adolphus 
are  still  only  on  paper* 

*  "  Geschichte  der  Veiundening  der  bauerlichen  und  herrschaftlichen  Ver- 
haltnisse."     Berlin,  1817. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SWEDEN. 

Visit  to  Sweden. — Death  of  his  mother. — The  Pomeranian  Landtag. — 
"Geist  der  Zeit." — Escape  to  Sweden. — Swedish  Revolution — Adven- 
turous return  to  Pomerania. 

After  these  little  works  were  finished,  and  I  had  com- 
pleted some  other  matters  which  had  employed  my  time 
at  Greifswald,  I  determined  to  make  a  journey  to  Sweden, 
and  to  satisfy  a  desire,  which  I  had  long  cherished,  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  that  northern  land  which  is 
so  closely  connected  with  Germany  and  German  history, 
especially  with  my  own  home.  I  felt  I  could  do  this 
by  personal  observation,  and  by  residence  among  the 
people,  more  thoroughly  than  from  books,  or  from  inter- 
course with  the  Swedes  settled  amongst  us.  For  this 
journey,  which  I  made  at  my  own  expense,  I  had  to  ask 
leave  of  absence,  and,  unfortunately,  obtained  it.  Un- 
fortunately, I  say,  for  no  sooner  had  I  received  it,  than 
there  came  a  letter  from  a  rich  friend  and  countryman  at 
Hamburg,  asking  me  to  spend  a  year  and  a  half  with 
him  in  the  Spanish  peninsula,  and  offering  to  pay  all  my 
expenses,  as  he  wanted  a  cheerful  and  enterprising 
travelling  companion.     How  gladly  would  I  have  made 

9-2 


132  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S03— 9. 

use  of  this  rare  opportunity,  but  I  had  bound  myself  so 
that  I  could  not  go  back,  for  I  had  given  such  reasons 
for  asking  for  leave  of  absence  for  my  journey  to  Sweden, 
that  I  could  not  have  given  it  up  without  running  the 
risk  of  offending  Baron  von  Essen.  So  I  started  for 
Sweden  in  the  autumn  of  1803,  returning  after  the  lapse 
of  a  year  in  the  autumn  of  1804,  at  a  time  when  the 
demon  of  politics  was  beginning  to  grow  uneasy,  both  in 
north  and  south  Germany.  Then  came  the  year  1805, 
with  the  Austrian  misfortunes,  and  then  the  more  terrible 
year  1S06,  which  saw  the  downfall  of  Prussia. 

Of  this  visit  to  Sweden,  as  of  his  earlier  travels,  Arndt 
after  his  return  published  an  account.  In  1804  he  printed  his 
first  volume  of  poems,  entitled  "  Der  Storch  und  seine  Familie 
nebst  eine  Zugabe"  C^'  The  Stork  and  his  Family,  with  other 
Poems"),  a  tragedy  in  three  acts,  describing  how  the  stork  sent 
his  sons  to  the  university  against  their  mother's  wish,  and  how 
they  returned  home  from  their  philosophical  studies  too  proud 
to  work,  and  fancying  themselves  emancipated  from  all  filial 
ties,  so  that  the  whole  house  of  Stork  was  brought  to  ruin.  In 
1805  he  published  a  speech  delivered  on  the  king's  birthday, 
entitled  "Ideen  iiber  die  hochste  historische  Ansicht  der 
Sprache"  ("Ideas  on  the  Historical  Treatment  of  Language"), 
and  "  Fragmente  liber  Menschenbildung"  ("Fragments  on  Edu- 
cation"), in  two  parts;  a  third  part  being  afterwards  published  in 
1809. 

It  was  in  the  year  1806  that  the  Pomeranian  Landtag  was 
held.  How  it  was  called  together  by  the  young  king  Gustavus 
IV.,'''  after  the  dissolution  of  the  German  empire,  for  the  pur- 

*  Gustavus  IV.  Adolphus,  bom  at  Stockholm,  1778,  was  called  to  the 
throne  of  Sweden  while  yet  a  minor  by  the  assassination  of  his  father,  Gus- 
tavus III.,  at  a  masked  ball.  Hemamed  the  Princess  Friederike  of  Baden, 
and  happened  to  be  staying  at  Carlsrahe  when  the  Due  d'Enghien  was. 
carried  over  the  border  and  put  to  death.     The  act  aroused  his  utmost  in- 


^ET.  33— 39]  Death  of  His  Mother.  133 


pose  of  arranging  the  new  Pomeranian  constitution,  has  been 
stated  in  the  last  chapter.  Arndt  himself  appears  to  have  been 
absent  from  Greifsvvald  at  the  time  of  its  meeting,  being  pro- 
bably at  Stralsund ;  but  his  brother  Friedrich,  himself  a  niem- 
ber  of  it,  gave  him  by  letter  frequent  descriptions  of  its  proceed- 
ings, and  of  the  state  of  the  country  in  that  unsettled  time,  and 
some  of  them  it  may  be  worth  while  to  quote.  The  first  letter 
was  v/ritten  at  an  earlier  period  during  Arndt's  absence  in 
Sweden. 

"Our  good  mother  is  no  more.  My  father  will  certainly 
have  written  to  you  about  it.  You  know  how  little  she  seemed 
to  belong  to  this  earth,  and  it  is  always  a  wonder  to  me  that 
she  nearly  reached  the  age  of  sixty,  and  was  the  mother  of  half- 
a-dozen  such  sturdy  fellows  as  we  are.  She  was  not  ill  long, 
thank  God,  and  passed  away  easily  and  gently.  I  was  in  Lobnitz 
not  long  ago.  My  father  has  become  much  whiter,  and  his 
step  and  voice  much  more  subdued.  Everything,  even  the 
best,  is  only  short  and  transitory.  Here  is  a  home  destroyed, 
a  home  which  had  few  equals  in  cheerfulness  and  kindness. 

"Oct.  1S04,  Bergen." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  think  our  father  is  beginning  to 
brighten  up  again.  Perhaps  you  have  helped  to  cheer  him  a 
little.  1  have  not  seen  him,  indeed,  for  three  months,  but  he 
seemed  to  me  then  very  much  broken  since  my  mother's  death. 

"Bergen,  July  10,  1S05." 


dignation  against  Napoleon,  and  from  that  time  he  opposed  him  with  un- 
changing bitterness.  Refusing  to  become  a  party  to  the  Peace  of  Tilsit, 
he  broke  with  Russia  and  Denmark.  Finland  was  conquered  and  annexed 
by  the  Czar,  M'hile  Pomerania  and  Rligen  Avere  overrun  by  the  French. 
]\Ieanwhile  the  Swedish  nobility  were  strongly  disposed  to  the  French 
Alliance,  and,  finding  it  impossible  to  force  him  to  make  peace,  in  1809 
they  dethroned  him  and  placed  his  uncle,  Charles  XIII.,  on  the  throne. 
Gustavus  IV.  retired  into  Germany,  refusing  to  accept  the  pension  offered 
him.  Failing  to  obtain  support  for  his  claims  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  obscurity,  separated  fiom  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren—now in  St.  Petersburg,  now  in  London,  and  now  living  as  a  citizen  of 
Basle  under  the  name  of  Colonel  Gustafson.   lie  died  at  St.  Gallen,  in  1837. 


J 34  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1803-9. 


"  Dear  Brother, — The  devil  has  broken  loose  here  since 
the  king  abohshed  serfdom.  You  can  form  no  conception  of 
the  tumult  and  commotion  our  tyrants  are  making.  They  make 
as  much  noise  as  if  it  was  now  the  German  empire  was  about 
to  fall.  To  me  the  matter  is  neither  vexatious,  nor  ridiculous, 
nor  important.  It  would  be  a  different  thing  if  the  king  were 
to  give  us  ten  thousand  of  your  Swedish  peasants  with  their 
free  lands  and  hearts.  The  rascals  have  destroyed  in  the  last 
half-century  the  best  part  of  our  sweet  little  country.  Where 
are  there  any  peasant  villages  left  ?— and  that  servants  and  day 
labourers  should  be  loosed  from  the  soil,  and  made  free  beggars 
of,  is  a  matter  of  no  great  importance. 

"  Greifswald,  August  10,  1806." 

"  I  was  yesterday  in  Trantow  with  my  wife  ;  I  do  not  know 
whether  old  people  have  an  instincti\e  foreboding  of  bad 
weather  or  bad  times,  but  I  found  our  good  father  unusually 
gloomy  and  restless.  He  lives  certainly  on  the  borders,  and 
has  a  sreat  deal  of  confusion  in  the  house.  A  Swedish 
Rittmeister  and  thirty  hussars  are  quartered  on  the  farm  and  in 
the  village,  and  there  are  Swedish  outposts  in  the  A^iepower 
wood,  guarding  the  Peene.  The  storm  seems  now  indeed 
hushed,  but  if  the  Prussians  had  dared  come  here,  they  might 
have  driven  the  little  Swedish  force  right  into  Stralsund. 

"  Shall  I  tell  you  about  our  great  Pomeranian  Reichstag  ? 
If  I  only  could  open  my  eyes  and  mouth  as  wide  as  most  people 
have  been  doing,  that  I  might  relate  to  you,  as  the  Fama  Grypes- 
waldensis,  the  great  deeds  and  events  of  the  last  few  weeks  1 
Jesting  apart,  it  was  really  splendid,  and  the  women  and  girls 
of  Griefswald  have  had  a  show,  gratis,  which  they  will  be  able 
to  talk  about  for  months.  Balls  and  banquets  ;  handsome  en- 
signs and  lieutenants  ;  Prussian  emissaries  with  waving  plumes  ; 
lies  and  rumours  in  abundance.  How  many  merry  days  have 
the  born  lords  of  the  human  race  enjoyed  at  our  expense  !  You 
have  had  to  translate  the  '  Acta  et  Formalia,'  of  the  Swedish 
Reichstag  for  our  benefit,  and  you  can  represent  it  to  your- 
self  infor7natione   ideaniin  poetica ;    but  your  bodily  eye  has 


^'i'-  33— 39-]  Opening  of  the  Landtag.  135 


never  seen  it.  The  proclamation  of  the  Reichstag  and  the 
entry  were  really  splendid,  and  were  received  with  shouts  and 
huzzas  from  all  the  street  boys,  and  with  the  waving  of  hand- 
kerchiefs from  all  the  pretty  girls  in  the  windows.  For  your 
patron  the  handsome  Chancellor  Wetterstedt,  the  herald,  sat  his 
horse  finely,  and  two  lions-d'armes  (I  don't  know  Avhat  they  are 
called  in  Swedish)  rode  by  him.  Lastly,  the  opening  of  the 
Reichstag  !— that  really  carried  me  away ;  one  forgets  one's  self 
at  a  moment  like  that.  It  would  have  been  splendid  for  a 
people  of  a  million  souls,  so  it  could  not  fail  to  suffice  for  a  little 
nation  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand.  The  king,  the  mag- 
notes,  the  peers,  the  marshal,  a  herald,  the  generals,  the  knights 
of  the  Seraphim,  and  of  the  Glave,  the  handsome  long-limbed 
Swedes,  our  gaily-dressed  nobles,  burgomasters,  etc.,  and  all  to 
the  sound  of  trumpets  and  trombones,  and  the  roar  of  cannon. 
So  we  buried  the  old  German  empire  beneath  the  new  Swedish 

liberty ! 

"  We  have  now  the  four  Swedish  orders — nobles,  priests,  citi- 
zens, peasants.  Pontus  de  la  Gardie  is  Marshal  of  the  Realm. 
Of  course  you  know  the  tall  stately  man.  He  looks,  indeed, 
not  unworthy  to  represent  him  who  once  made  the  Muscovites 
at  Novgorod,  and  even  at  Moscow,  tremble.  Our  old  super- 
intendent, Schlegel,  for  the  priests— bent,  humble,  and  confused 
both  in  step  and  gesture,  a  fit  representative  of  our  German 
evangelical  theology,  with  all  its  confusion.  The  masters  of 
both  the  other  two  orders  were  well  chosen:  Burgomaster  Kuhl 
from  Stralsund,  and  the  crown  farmer  Karl  Samuel  Ascher,  from 
Neuendorf  by  Loitz,  for  the  citizens  and  peasants. 

"As  for  me,  the  representative  of  the  capital  of  Riigen,  I  have 
had  little  practice  as  yet  in  speaking,  and  scarcely  know  what 
we  have  to  speak  about.  I  could  find  plenty  to  say  about  my 
little  town  of  Bergen,  and  my  Uttle  country  of  Riigen,  but  can 
I  make  proptvienda  ? 

"  Greifswald,  Aug.  15." 

"  I  wrote  to  you  that  our  good  old  father  is  often  restless  and 
dejected.     I   was  yesterday   afternoon   with    brother  Karl   at 


136  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S03— 9. 

Trantow.  Our  father  is  a  very  good  man,  and  in  his  quiet  way 
a  very  clever  one.  I  wish  that  kings,  who  unfortunately  never 
talk  to  the  right  men.  could  sometimes  listen  behind  the  curtain 
to  the  conversation  of  such  people  of  the  lower  orders.  As  he 
understands  the  wind  and  weather  so  well,  and  can  foretell  it  as 
well  as  an  experienced  hunter,  from  the  course  of  the  clouds  and 
from  the  movements  and  flight  of  spiders,  swallows,  and  snipes, 
he  makes  me  almost  anxious  when  he  prognosticates  the  future 
from  the  course  of  the  political  clouds.  He  feels  and  speaks 
in  such  a  way  about  the  times  that  I  cannot  help  feeling  and 
speaking  with  him.  He  might  feel  proud  that  he  has  sent  three 
of  his  people  to  the  Reichstag  :  his  broad-chested  son-in-law 
Samuel  Ascher,  tlie  speaker  of  the  peasants ;  his  eldest  son  Karl, 
a  representative  of  the  peasants ;  and  his  third,  my  not  very 
slender  self,  elected  from  the  honourable  order  of  burghers  ; 
but  he  shakes  his  head  at  all  the  nonsense,  and  says  :  '  Look 
towards  the  south  ;  there's  a  storm  coming.' 
"Greifswald,  Aug.  19." 

"  The  Reichstag  is  blown  out,  and  everybody  is  going  home. 
I  ani  glad  that  the  tragi-comedy  is  over.  These  people  can 
produce  nothing  but  wind,  and  when  dreams  are  taken  for 
deeds,  can  a  sensible  man  cherish  hope  ? 

"What  splendid  words  he  has  spoken  again!  I  mean  our 
king.  The  conclusion  was  something  like  this — see  the  account 
in  the  papers  : — '  May  I  live  to  see  the  day  when  Germany,  my 
second  fatherland,  is  restored  to  the  splendour  and  power  to 
which  its  worthy  people,  and  the  glory  of  centuries,  give  it  a 
right' 

"The  good  man  spoke  with  evident  emotion,  but  several  of 
the  Swedes  who  were  standing  behind  him  visibly  betrayed 
their  contempt.  The  man  has  evidently  fallen  in  love  with  the 
Germans,  and  would  make  a  good  prince  in  some  little  German 
country;  but  he  has  not  strength  to  hold  in  his  Swedes;  the 
northern  horse  must  be  managed  differentlv."' 

At  this  time  appeared  the  first  part  of  my  "  Geist  der 
Zeit  "  ("  Spirit  of  the  Age  ").    This  book  has  been  praised 


137 


^T.  33—39.]  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Age!' 

by  many,  and  approved  by  the  noblest  and  truest  of  the 
people,  not  on  account  of  a  few  rash  words  wrung  from 
me  by  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  written,  but 
because  of  the  genuine,  honourable  anger  proper  to  the 
year  1S05,  and  the  condition  of  the  Fatherland  and  the 
faithful  love  for  truth  and  justice  which  it  breathed  ;  be- 
cause of  the  prophetical  foresight  of  the  future,  and, 
lastly,  because  of  the  hope  which  illumined  even  its 
despair.  Some  have  declared  the  book  to  be  the  best 
which  I  have  written.  It  does  not  become  me  to  have 
an  opinion  on  the  subject.  But  any  one  judging  the  book 
should  bear  in  mind  the  hour  at  which  it  was  born,  the 
state  of  men's  minds,  the  condition  of  the  Fatherland,  and 
the  position  of  Europe  at  the  time  of  its  birth.  Its  best 
judge  v/ill  be  the  heart  of  one,  born  like  it  under  the 
inspiration  of  that  time  of  terror  and  calamity.  Only 
one  who,  like  him  who  wrote  it,  experienced  those  times 
can  judge  it  fairly,  and  he  will  not  condemn  as  a  crime 
what,  and  I  say  it  with  glad  consciousness,  comforted  and 
inspired  thousands  in  its  time. 

I  wrote  those  457  pages  in  the  November  and 
December  of  1S05.  By  Easter,  1806,  they  were  already 
printed.  I  wrote  them  in  Greifswald,  when  we  had 
received  the  news  of  the  first  disastrous  battles  of  the 
Danube  and  the  misfortune  at  Ulm,  when  the  Russians 
and  Swedes,  who  were  to  unite  with  the  English  and 
Hanoverians  on  the  Weser,  were  marching  westwards 
along  all  the  roads  and  paths  of  my  native  land,  when 
the  Prussian  army  was  marching  towards  the  south-east, 
and  the  fall  of  Napoleon  was  the  wish  and  the  prayer  of 
all  good  men,  and  the  hope  and  expectation  of  many 


13S  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1803— 9. 

sensible  ones.  But,  alas  !  how  soon  came  Austerlitz,  with 
all  its  calamitous  consequences,  giving  a  gloomy  colour 
to  the  last  pages  of  the  book.  Contempt,  slaver}^,  despair, 
utter  overthrow  of  all ;  endless,  hopeless  misery  in  the 
background,  and  the  terrible  Corsican  trampling  in  the 
dust  the  last  honour  and  glory  of  the  Fatherland.  So, 
in  five  or  six  weeks,  the  book  was  forged  on  the  glowing 
anvil  of  the  time,  and  even  now  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the 
feeling  of  manly  anger  at  the  destruction  of  German  and 
European  honour  and  freedom,  the  brightness  of  which 
seemed  to  have  faded  for  ever  during  that  gloomy  and 
terrible  autumn.* 

The  summer  of  that  year,  1806,  I  lay  in  Stralsund, 
working  in  the  government  offices  for  Swedish  affairs. 
I  say  I  lay,  for  I  had  received  a  bullet  wound  in  a  duel 
with  a  Swedish  officer,  who  bore  the  beautiful  Apollo- 
like name  of  Gyllensvard  (Golden-sword),  and  had  to 
spend  two  months  on  my  bed.  I  do  not  defend  myself. 
We  are  taught,  ''Thou  shalt  not  kill;"  "Thou  shalt 
not  fight  duels."     But  there  are  peculiar  circumstances. 

*  "  Nothgedningener  Bericht."   A  translation  of  a  part  of  the  work  here 
spoken  of  ("  The  Sph-it  of  the  Age,")  was  published  in  England,  in  1S08, 

by  a  German  refugee,  the  Rev.  P.  W .     In  the  preface  he  says : 

"  When  the  heroic  Palm,  the  unfortunate  bookseller  of  Erlangen,  was 
executed  by  the  order  of  that  Man  of  Blood,  who  impiously  tramples  under 
foot  all  laws,  both  human  and  divine,  I  requested  my  correspondents  in 
Germany  to  send  me  a  copy  of  the  '  Corpus  Delicti,'  but  received  for 
answer  that  the  publication  which  had  drawn  upon  the  murdered  Palm  tlie 
sanguinar\'  vengeance  of  the  French  Attila,  had  suddenly  disappeared,  and 
that  it  was  highly  dangerous  even  to  speak  of  it.  Amdt's  '  Geist  der  Zeit ' 
was  at  the  same  time  mentioned  to  me  as  the  work  which  had  chiefly 
kindled  the  tyrant's  savage  rage,  the  more  so  as  the  author,  a  Pomeranian 
by  birth,  had  evaded  his  resentment  by  a  timely  flight  into  Sweden."  The 
historian  HUusser  describes  the  book  as  "  One  of  the  most  powerful  and 
rousing  that  a  German  pen  has  ever  written." 


^T.  33— 39-]  Diid.  139 

I  Avas  sitting  in  cheerful  conversation  over  our  wine,  in 
a  public  garden,  with  some  of  my  dearest  friends,  when  the 
Swede  let  fall  a  contemptuous  expression  about  the 
German  people,  just  when  I  had  been  praising  the 
Swedes.  I  was  moved  like  INIoses  in  Egypt,  we  fell  out, 
and  three  days  after  met  with  pistols  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  Stralsund,  on  the  sea-shore,  at  a  distance  of 
fifteen  paces.  When  the  ball  struck  me  I  fell,  thinking  the 
wound  was  mortal.  It  was  about  six  o'clock  on  a 
beautiful  sunny  evening,  and  I  gazed  lovingly,  as 
for  the  last  time,  at  the  opposite  shore  of  my  beau- 
tiful green  island.  But  it  was  but  a  momentary  failure 
of  nature  ;  I  was  soon  on  my  feet  again,  and  went 
into  the  town  with  my  second,  had  the  ball  extracted, 
and  the  wound  bound  up,  and  then  was  forced  to  lie  up 
for  six  or  eight  weeks.  It  was  curious,  but  when  the  ball 
penetrated  my  body  the  sensation  was  quite  a  familiar 
one  to  me.  I  had  often  been  shot  in  my  dreams  with 
precisely  the  same  sensations,  just  as  if  some  one  were 
drivine  an  icv-cold  skewer  through  me.  I  asked,  What  is 
this,  and  whence  } 

A  short  time  before  this  dangerous  game,  I  had  escaped 
a  peril  of  a  rather  ludicrous  description,  which  reminded  me 
of  my  childish  adventures  with  Asmus's  "Giant  Goliath." 
I  had  to  appear  in  the  royal  presence  to  pa}-  my  respects, 
and  return  thanks  for  my  promotion  to  be  a  professor 
extraordinary.  The  king  received  me  in  a  large  hall, 
quite  alone,  and  with  his  customary  ceremonious  gravity. 
But  there  were  two  rooms  open  behind  him,  right  in 
front  of  me  ;  and  there  General  Armfelt  and  the  Lord 
Chamberlain,  Count  Stenbock,  were  carrying  on  a  joke 


I40  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1803—9. 

together,  and  making  such  ridiculous  grimaces,  that 
nothing  but  a  strong  sense  of  the  respect  due  to  his 
Majesty  prevented  me  from  bursting  out  laughing.  I 
was  in  a  terrible  fright,  for  there  never  was  any  one  more 
absurd  than  this  Stenbock,  whether  he  was  actually  play- 
ing the  buffoon  himself,  or  amusing  himself  at  somebody 
else's  expense.  His  whole  appearance,  attitude,  and 
gestures  w'ere  more  than  ridiculous.  He  was  a  degenerate 
descendant  of  Charles  XH.'s  great  general. 

Towards  Michaelmas  my  work  at  Stralsund  was 
finished,  and  I  went  to  my  father  at  Trantow,  a  royal 
property  near  Loitz,  on  the  Peene,  where  he  had  been 
living  for  two  years.  Here  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Jena 
reached  us,  and  soon  after  the  fugitives  began  to  arrive. 
As  friends  and  enemies  alike  began  to  press  towards 
this  boundary  river,  we  betook  ourselves  to  Stralsund, 
from  v/hence  he  went  to  Riigen,  and  I  to  Sweden.  The 
military  arrangements  of  this  little  Swedish  province 
were  so  entirely  disorganised  that  little  could  be  hoped 
from  it.  I  had  no  desire  to  be  taken  by  the  foreign 
troops  and  shot  like  a  mad  dog. 

When  the  Peace  of  Tilsit,  in  the  summer  of  theyear  1807, 
brought  the  bloody  and  unfortunate  war  to  an  end,  and 
enemies  should  have  become  friends,  Gustavus  Adolphus 
could  not  find  it  in  his  heart  to  humble  himself  to  the 
triumphant  Napoleon,  and  to  acknowledge  as  a  right 
what  good  fortune  and  skill  had  won.  He  would  not 
accept  the  conditions  of  the  insolent  conqueror.  So  a 
French  army  of  50,000  men  marched  over  the  border, 
and  besieged  Stralsund  ;  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year 
the  Swedes  evacuated  first  Pomerania  and  Stralsund,  and 


^T.  33—39.]  Escape  to  Szvcdcn.  141 

then  Riigen.  The  land  was  in  the  hands  of  foreigners, 
and  suffered  exceedingly  in  a  short  time  from  the  un- 
necessarily large  numbers  of  hostile  troops.  Its  affluence, 
the  fruit  of  thirty  years'  prosperity,  vanished  in  a  few 
months  ;  but  the  evil  did  not  cease  for  three  years,  and 
then  only  for  a  short  interval,'" 

Thus  I  came  to  Stockholm  as  a  miserable  fugitive  on 
my  birthday,  the  day  after  Christmas  Day,  1S06.  But  I 
had  many  old  friends  and  acquaintances  there,  and  took 
up  my  quarters  at  first  with  my  friend  Karl  Nernst, 
director  of  the  German  Lyceum. 

However,  this  only  lasted  a  few  weeks,  till  I  obtained 
an  appointment.  'My  friend  Dr.  Schildener,  from  Greifs- 
wald,  Professor  of  Law,  and  Councillor  von  Schubert, 
from  Wolgast,  had  been  summoned  to  Stockholm  to 
revise  and  adapt  Swedish  laws  to  our  little  district. 
Schubert  had  gone  home  on  leave  and  remained  away, 
and  I  succeeded  to  his  place  and  his  salary.  I  spent 
some  years  in  this  useless  labour,  and  was  also  employed 
in  some  little  business  in  the  government  office,  under 
Cabinet  Secretary  Wetterstedt. 

I  had  to  translate  the  Swedish  proclamations  and 
manifestoes  issued  in  the  year  1S08,  in  connection  with 
the  war  with  Russia  and  with  English  and  Spanish 
affairs,  which  were  sent  over  to  the  Sound  and  into 
Prussia  by  separate  messengers.  Among  these  was  the 
famous  state  paper  of  the  Spanish  minister,  Don  Pedro 
Cevallos,  in  which  he  exposed  the  whole  series  of  in- 
trigues and  plots  by  which  the  Spanish  royal  family  was 

*  "Geschichte  der  Veranderung,"  etc. 


142  Life  of  Arndt.  [a. d.  1803-9. 


beguiled  into  abdication  and  brought  down  to  misery 
and  imprisonment.  Through  this  paper  I  nearly  brought 
heavy  misfortune  upon  one  of  my  best  friends.  Having 
determined  at  any  price  to  return  to  Germany,  in  the 
summer  of  1809, 1  sent  off  by  a  ship  sailing  for  Stralsund 
several  chests  of  books  and  a  little  box  to  my  friend 
Reincke.  In  this  box  were  some  little  remembrances  of 
Sweden,  and  a  copy  of  this  writing  of  Cevallos  had  got 
slipped  in  among  them.  The  custom-house  officers, 
among  whom  were  some  Frenchmen,  searched  them 
most  carefully,  but  fortunately  overlooked  this  particular 
paper.  When  Reincke  got  the  box  hom.e,  he  turned  out 
this  hidden  snake,  which  might  so  easily  have  ruined  him, 
and  burnt  it. 

I    had    many   dear   friends   in    Stockholm,    including 
Pomeranians  of  all  ranks,  the  chief  of  whom  were  my 
dear   faithful  Schildener  and  Nernst,   and  a  long-tried 
friend,  the  king's  physician,  Baron  von  Weigel.      The 
society  of  these,  and  of  many  good  Swedes  whose  ac- 
quaintance I  had  made  in  the  years   1803-4,  w^as  a  great 
comfort  to  me.     Life  was  very  endurable  in  the  pleasant 
beautiful  town  and  among  its  hospitable  and  polished 
inhabitants.     Nevertheless  this  time  I  stayed  there  un- 
willingly, and  three  years'  enforced  absence  from  one's 
native  country  is  a  long,  long  time.     The  storm  which 
had  driven  me  from  my  home,  passed  over  into  Sweden 
in  the  autumn    of  1807,   and    the   following  year   was 
signalised  by  a  detestable  treason  in  Finland,  and  great 
disasters  to  the  land  so  dear  to  me.     I  had  many  friends 
there,  and  enjoyed  more  kindness  and  affection  than  I 
deserved  ;  but,  nevertheless,  those  were  miserable  years 


^T.  33—39.]  Pestilence  in  StockJiohn.  143 

to  me.  For,  first,  how  was  it  possible  to  forget  the  mis- 
fortunes of  my  beloved  country  on  the  other  side  of  the 
sea  ?  and,  secondly,  how  could  I  live  happily  and  peace- 
fully in  a  land  where  discord  and  dissensions  threatened 
to  bring  everything  to  utter  ruin  ;  where  the  people  were 
divided  into  factions  and  parties,  most  of  which  wished 
success  to  the  foreigner,  and  the  king  remained  im- 
movable and  obstinate  in  his  opinions,  and  just  as  im- 
movable in  his  actions,  or  rather  in  his  inaction,  at  a  time 
when  kingly  daring  and  strength  of  will  were  needed  ? 

In  September  and  October  (1808)  disease  began  to 
rage  so  fearfully  in  the  coasting  fleet  that  the  "  Landwehr 
sickness  "  was  spoken  of  in  Stockholm  as  an  incurable 
pestilence,  before  it  reached  the  place.  In  the  beginning 
of  November  the  fleet  ran  into  Stockholm,  and  brought 
on  shore  the  terrible  evil,  which  had  hitherto  been  only 
heard  of  in  the  distance.  Five  thousand  young  men 
were  landed,  besides  several  thousand  who  were  marched 
in  from  the  land  force.  It  is  fearful,  but  it  is  true,  that 
no  preparations  were  made,  either  for  hospitals  for  the 
sick  or  quarters  for  the  healthy.  For  two  days  ships  full 
of  the  sick  remained  there,  some  of  them  open  boats, 
and  the  unfortunate  wretches  were  not  only  not  carried 
into  warm  rooms,  but  were  left  in  the  ships  without  ne- 
cessary food,  not  to  speak  of  medical  care.  This  was 
in  November,  when  it  was  already  snowing  and  freezing. 
For  two  nights  several  thousands  of  the  fleet  Landwehr"^ 
were  encamped  under  open  sky  on  the  little  islands  of 
Lake  Malar,  in  the  largest  town  of  Sweden,  where  a 
hostile  army  of  50,000  would  easily  have  found  com- 

*  The  fleet  organised  for  the  protection  of  the  coast. 


144  Life  pf  Ariidt.  [a.c  1803—9. 

fortable  quarters.  The  blame,  as  is  usually  the  case 
when  all  goes  wrong,  was  thrown  on  the  king,  the  board 
of  war,  and  many  others.  One  must  not  be  too  hard  on 
the  inhabitants  of  Stockholm,  for  every  one  knew  if  he  took 
them  into  his  house  he  was  taking  the  pestilence  into  it. 
At  last  they  were  brought  under  shelter,  first  to  fill  the 
hospitals  and  then  the  churchyards.  The  chief  hospital 
was  the  opera-house,  which  was  thus  changed  from  a 
house  of  mirth  to  a  house  of  mourning.  Hour  by  hour 
the  black  dead-carts  passed  by,  followed  by  the  impre- 
cations and  curses  of  the  people,  which  were  all  heaped 
on  the  king.  It  died  out  at  last,  when  there  was  nothing 
left  to  prey  upon,  as  the  most  raging  fire  dies  in  its  own 
ashes,  but  for  three  months  the  silent  black  processions 
traversed  the  town,  renewing  daily  the  remembrance  of 
past  and  the  foreboding  of  future  evil. 

The  evil  course  things  were  taking,  and  sometimes  a 
dark  feeling  of  what  they  were  leading  to,  combined 
with  the  displeasure  or  indifTerence  manifest  on  the 
countenances  of  many  of  those  who  surrounded  him,  the 
remonstrances  and  warnings  of  some  true  and  conscien- 
tious servants,  all  worked  on  the  king's  mind,  and  made 
him  grow  more  impatient  in  his  self-willed  obstinacy. 
But  he  concealed  his  dissatisfaction  and  his  foreboding  of 
his  fate  within  himself;  he  shut  his  eyes  that  he  might 
not  see  the  dark  storm-clouds  gathering  round  his  head. 
Sometimes  again,  even  in  this  unhappy  time,  he  grew 
extraordinarily  cheerful,  so  that  people  often  thought  he 
must  have  had  some  good  political  news.  But  he  had 
heard  nothing  ;  it  was  only  that  he  had  been  finding  in 
the  study  of  distant  lands  and  distant  stars  the  solution 


.^T.  33—39.]        Deposition  of  Gnstavus  IV.  145 

of  a  destiny  which  was  not  unfolding  brightly  here. 
When  Finland  was  lost,  and  the  Russians  were  threat- 
ening Aland  and  Norrland  ;  when  the  sailors  were  dying 
like  flies,  and  means  for  a  new  campaign  were  being 
sought  in  vain,  he  pointed  significantly  to  Spain,  and 
named  with  mysterious  joy  the  year  1809,  as  one  which 
would  bring  great  things.  What  mistakes  poor  mortals 
make  in  their  study  of  the  sky  and  stars  !  He  found  in 
Dr.  Jung-Stilling's  interpretation  of  the  Apocalypse  the 
fall  of  his  opponent  in  1809;  but  in  1809  he  himself 
passed  from  the  throne  to  a  prison. 

After  he  was  arrested  they  carried  him  the  first  night 
to  Drottningholm,  where  he  spent  some  days;  then  he 
w^as  taken  further  from  the  capital  to  Gripsholm.  In 
June  his  wife  and  children  joined  him,  and  the  following 
winter  they  crossed  the  sea  to  Germany.  During  this 
long  imprisonment,  the  king  justified  himself  to  some 
extent,  as  far  at  least  as  a  king  could,  for  his  earlier  con- 
duct. After  the  first  hours  of  his  arrest,  during  which 
anger,  rage,  and  despair  threw  him  into  a  state  of  extra- 
ordinary excitement,  he  was  himself  again — as  cold, 
reserved,  ceremonious,  calm,  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 
He  would  be  told  of  everything  that  passed  in  the  outer 
world,  read  all  the  statements  and  protocols  of  the 
Reichstag  and  Government  about  himself,  and  remained 
unmoved  by  the  bitterest  expressions  and  outbursts  of 
hatred  against  him.  But  the  Bible  still  remained  his 
chief  study.  He  convinced  many  even  of  those  who 
hated  and  calumniated  him  that  he  had  really  ruled 
conscientiously,  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge.  This  he 
himself  declared  before  the  world,  for  when  the  Assem- 

10 


146  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S03— 9. 


bled  Estates  sent  him  the  Act  by  which  they  renounced 
their  allegiance  to  him  and  his  family  for  ever,  he 
answered  that  he  had  read  it  with  a  quiet  conscience, 
but  with  the  most  painful  feelings.  The  domestic  virtues, 
in  which  he  had  been  a  model  to  his  subjects,  threv/  a 
mild  halo  over  his  misfortunes.  His  queen  was  the  most 
blameless,  tender,  beautiful,  and  amiable  of  women,  and 
had  shown,  by  a  rare  constancy,  what  noble  pride 
is.  Her  son  was  a  pleasant  picture  of  blooming  youth. 
The  rest  of  the  family  were  in  a  manner  included  in  the 
respect,  honour,  and  sympathy  which  could  not  but  be 
felt  for  the  queen,  and  so  they  passed  out  of  the  country 
into  the  misery  of  exile  not  unaccompanied  by  tears.* 

In  the  meantime,  although  everyone  knew  me  to  be  a 
hater  of  the  French,  and  no  admirer  of  Napoleon,  who 
was  idolised  by  most  of  the  Swedes,  yet,  to  confess  the 
truth,  it  made  no  difference  in  their  kindness  to  me,  even 
after  the  fall  of  the  king.  But  with  many  of  my  friends 
I  was  always  at  strife  on  this  subject.  I  grew  melan- 
choly and  irritable.  These  miserable,  feverish  feelings 
increased  when  commotions  broke  out  again  in  Germany 
on  the  Danube  and  in  the  Alps,  the  vibrations  of  which 
were  felt  like  electric  shocks  throughout  Germany,  and 
even  in  Sweden.     The  news  reached  us  that  Schillf  had 

*  Brief  iiber  Gripsholm. 

t  Ferdinand  von  Schill  joined  the  amiy  at  an  early  age,  but  devoted 
himself  so  entirely  to  the  science  of  war,  neglecting  its  practical  part,  that 
after  sixteen  years'  service  he  was  still  only  a  sub-lieutenant.  The  campaign 
of  1S06  awoke  the  warlike  fire.  At  Auerstedt,  after  the  battle  was  hopelessly 
lost,  he  could  not  be  induced  to  retreat,  but,  surrounded  by  the  enemy  and 
desperately  wounded,  still  refused  to  surrender,  and  was  only  saved  by  his 
horse  carrying  him,  unconscious,  through  the  enemy's  ranks.  Carried  by 
his  comrades  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Colberg,  during  his  recovery  he  per- 


^T.  33-39-1  Scliill.  147 

entered  Stralsund  with  10,000  men,  and  was  only  waiting 
for  some  English  ships  to  embark  for  Schonen,  to  raise 
the  standard  of  the  imprisoned  Gustavus  Adolphus 
there. 

My  friend  General  Schwerin  came  to  me  one  morn- 
ing, and  laughingly  told  me  of  this  report  which  had 
spread  in  all  directions,  and  how  some  people  were 
beginning  to  feel  alarmed.  "  But,"  he  added  seriously, 
"I  don't  believe  it  ;  10,000  men  are  not  conjured  up  in  a 
moment  so  easily."  Next  morning  I  met  him  in  the 
park  at  Haga.  He  came  up  to  me  at  once,  and  seized 
my  hand,  saying,  while  the  tears  rushed  into  his  eyes, 
"  Schill  and  his  10,000  are  gone.  The  Danes  and  Dutch- 
men have  cut  him  off  while  crossing.  Now  Satan  will 
have  it  all  his  own  way." 

Having  arranged  my  affairs,  and  obtained  money  and 
passports,  I  started  for  the  south,  towards  the  end  of  the 
summer.  I  had  obtained,  through  the  help  of  a  faithful 
friend,  two  passports,  one  for  England  and  one  for 
Germany.  I  took  the  precaution,  in  taking  leave  of  my 
friends,  to  give  them  to  understand  that  I  was  intending 


ceived  the  importance  of  the  place,  and  obtained  leave  to  form  a  free  corps 
to  help  in  its  defence,  which  performed  such  prodigies  of  valour  that  when 
peace  was  concluded  at  Tilsit,  it  was  made  the  king's  body-guard.  In  1809, 
fancying  he  perceived  signs  of  a  determination  to  throw  off  the  French 
yoke,  Schill  left  Berlin  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  king,  intending  to  join  the  Austrians.  Failure,  however,  awaited 
him  ;  he  lost  his  best  officers  in  a  skirmish  near  Magdeburg,  and  was  driven 
to  take  refuge  in  Stralsund.  There,  struggling  in  vain  against  io,ooo 
Dutch  and  Danish  troops,  he  fell.  His  head,  it  is  said,  preserved  in  spirits, 
was  sent  to  the  Museum  of  Leyden,  and  some  of  his  officers,  who  were 
taken  prisoners,  were  shot  by  the  French,  and  others  sent  to  work  in  the 
galleys. 

10 — 2 


148  Life  of  Anidt.  [a.d.  1803—9. 


to  go  by  Gothenburg  to  England,  only  letting  two  persons 
know  my  real  destination,  for  half  the  people  one  met  were 
foreign    spies   and   agents.      I   went  to  Blekingen,  and 
sailed  at  the  beginning  of  September,  in  a  Prussian  ship, 
from  Karlsham  to  Riigenwalde,  where,  after  a  very  rapid 
voyage  before  a  driving  wind,  I  landed  under  the  name 
of  Allmann,  teacher  of  languages.    The  next  day  I  left  in  a 
coasting  vessel  for  Colberg.     I  did  not  venture  to  trust 
myself  in  a  mail-coach,  in  a  country  where  fortune  might 
throw  some  unwelcome  acquaintance  across  my  path,  or 
where  I   might  come  in  contact  with  French  spies  or 
agents.     Neither  could  I  find  my  way  on  foot,  as  I  should 
have  liked  to  do,  by  little-frequented  paths  through  the 
woods   and   marshes,  in  night  and  darkness,  for  I  was 
a  stranger  on  this  side  of  the  Oder,  never  having  set  foot 
in  this  part  of  the  country  before  :  added  to  which,  from 
my  long  absence  from  Germany,  I  was  perfectly  ignorant 
of   the   existing    condition   of  the   country.       Although 
Gneisenau  and  his  brave  men  and  Schill's  hussars  had 
brought  new  laurels  to  Colberg,  yet  to  me  the  shadow 
of  death  seemed  to  hang  over  it.     I  saw  the  Prussian 
hussars  and  artillerymen  exercising  on  the  plains  ;  I  saw 
the  forts  on  the  sea-shore,  in  and  around  which  such 
desperate  fighting  had  taken  place,  and  I  thought  of  the 
heroes  who  had  fallen  before  those  green  walls,  and  my 
feelings  were  in  harmony  with  the  barren,  marshy  plains, 
with  their  ever-brooding  canopy  of  vapour  from  the  salt- 
works, and  the  hollow  moan  of  the  bare,  ragged  fir-trees 
which  stood  round  the  forts  and  on   the  dunes.     In  the 
inn  I  found  newspapers  containing  the  melancholy  tidings 


JET.  33—39.]  Through  Pomerania.  149 

from   the  Danube,  that  peace  would  probably  soon  be 
concluded. 

I  had  to  stay  here  three  days,  waiting  to  proceed   by 
one  of  the  salt-boats    which    run  along  the  coast  and 
into  the  Oder.     I  embarked,  indeed,  the  second  day  ;  but 
we  had  scarcely  been  half-an-hour  at  sea  when  a  violent 
contrary  wind   arose,  and  the  miserable  flat-bottomed 
little  craft  was  obliged  to  put  back.     The  skipper  told 
me  that,  from  the  appearance  of  the  sky,  they  should 
most  likely  have  to  wait  for  four  or  five  days.    Indeed,  he 
said   they  were  often  delayed  for   eight  or  ten,  hoping 
for  favourable  winds.     What  was  to  be  done  .''     I  was 
forced,    at    last,   to  venture   on    the    land   journey,   and 
arranged  with  a  man  to  convey  me  in  a  day  and  a  half 
by  Treptow  and   Kamin    to  Wollin.      There    I    again 
stuck  fast.     I  could  easily  have  gone  on  foot  over  the 
islands  of  Wollin  and  Usedom  to  the  familiar  Wolgast, 
if  I  had  not,  in  the  first  place,  been  in  danger  of  meeting 
with  some  one  who  knew  me ;  and  secondly,  if  I  had  not 
had  heavy  luggage,  which  I  did  not  like  to  send  by  itself, 
and  yet  which  had  a  very  suspicious  appearance.  I  had  two 
boxes,  and  a  huge  hamper  with  very  edifying  contents  ;  for 
my  Stockholm  friends  had  crammed  it  to  overflowing  with 
excellent  wine,  chocolate,  tea,  sausages,  cheese,  etc.,  etc. 
Sol  was  obliged  to  return  to  the  water  plan,  and  desired  to 
get  over  the  Achterwater,  and  up  the  Peene  to  Anklamm. 
But  the  wind  refused  to  enter  into  these  arrangements. 
Twice  I  tried  to  cross  in  a  little  sailing-boat,  and  twice  a 
calm   and  a  contrary  wind  drove  us  back  to  the  little 
town  of  Wollin.     It  was   not  till  the   fifth  day  that  I 
reached  the  little  town  of  Neuwarp,  and  on  the  sixth  day, 


150  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1803 — 9. 


at  midnight,  the  bridge  of  Anklamm.  Here  I  ordered 
my  things  to  be  left  on  the  Swedish  bank,  and  carried 
straight  to  the  Custom-house.  Not  knowing  what  sort 
of  people  I  had  to  deal  with,  I  behaved  like  a  man  of 
an  impatient  temper,  and  quite  beyond  suspicion,  and 
stormed  and  thumped  at  the  door,  for  everybody  was 
asleep,  and  I  did  not  know  what  sort  of  people  they 
might  be. 

One  of  them  at  last  shook  himself  up  ;  but  he  scarcely 
looked  at  my  things,  for  the  night  was  cold  ;  and  thank- 
ful for  a  considerable  gratuity,  gladly  turned  in  again. 
I  signed  to  my  boatman,  and  he  and  his  wife  carried  my 
packages  to  an  inn  close  by,  which  I  knew  of  old.  It 
was  on  the  Anklamm  dyke  on  the  Swedish  side.  I  stayed 
here  only  half  an  hour,  took  some  refreshment,  left  my 
luggage  with  the  host,  promising  to  send  for  it  on  the 
morrow,  and  then  pushed  on  rapidly  along  the  dyke. 

Leaving  Ziethen  on  the  left  hand,  the  road  led  to 
Giitzkow,  which  I  had  often  visited  in  my  younger  and 
happier  days.  The  night,  or  rather  early  morning,  was 
pitch  dark  and  foggy,  and  near  Llissow,  the  seat  of  my 
friend  Von  Wolfradt,  I  hit  upon  a  wrong  path,  which 
led  me  down  to  the  Peene,  and  in  trying  to  find  my  way 
back  again  I  got  into  a  wrong  village,  where  the  watch- 
man was  rather  disposed  to  raise  the  hue-and-cry  after 
me  as  a  thief.  So  I  lost  many  hours  in  wandering  about  ; 
but  as  soon  as  I  could  discern  the  tower  of  Giitzkow  my 
difficulties  were  at  an  end,  and  I  walked  in  at  one  gate 
of  the  farm  at  Trantow,  in  the  early  dawn,  just  as  the 
oxen  vvere  being  led  out  to  the  plough  by  the  other. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GREIFSWALD. 

Ill  hiding  at  home  and  in  Berlin. — Reinstated  in  Greifsvvald. — Resigns  his 
Professorship. — Escapes  to  Berhn. — On  to  Breslau. — BUicher. — Scharn- 
horst. — Leaves  for  Prague. 

This  adventurous  hegira  of  mine  took  place  at  the  be- 
ginning of  October.  Here  I  was,  once  more  at  home 
with  my  brothers  and  sisters,  and  my  child,  my  little 
eight-year-old  boy  ;  but  alas  !  not  with  my  father.  They 
had  buried  him  the  summer  before.  Care  and  anxiety, 
and  the  destruction  of  his  property  in  all  directions,  as 
was  unavoidable  in  such  evil  and  lawless  days,  had  killed 
the  strong  man  before  his  time.  The  peaceful,  kindly 
nature  which  God  had  given  him  was  not  fitted  for  such 
a  period.  My  mother  had  passed  away  four  years  before. 
She  was  nfty-six  years  and  he  sixty-eight  years  of  age. 
How  far  short  of  the  years  granted  to  his  mother  and 
his  brother  Hinrich ! 

Yes,  I  feel  thee,  'tis  thou  !  'tis  the  woman  that  bore  me,  the  dauntless, 

High  and  courageous  heart,  holds  me  in  loving  embrace. 

So  am  I  stronger,  meseems,  to  contend  with  sword  and  with  lyre, 

Thankfully  now  I  hail  wounds  for  my  country,  or  death ; 

Virtue  now,  though  cynics  flout,  with  stouter  endurance 

I  can  serve,  and  with  heart  pilgrim  it  heavenward  along. 

From  that  presence  divine  comes  such  large  influence  pulsing, — 

Words  to  my  boyhood  said,  oftener  still  to  my  youth  ! 


152  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1809—12. 

The  country,  in  which  there  were  many  IMecklenburgers 
belongnig  to  the  Rhenish  Confederation,  being  still  under 
French  control,  and  full  of  French  officials,  I  had  to 
spend  my  days  at  Trantow,  concealed  in  a  little  out  of 
the  way  room,  my  presence  there  being  kept  secret  from 
most  of  those  coming  and  going.  I  sometimes  went  out 
in  the  evenings  after  dark  with  one  of  my  brothers,  or 
my  dearest  sister  Gottsgab,  or  good  old  Aunt  Sofie.  We 
made  only  one  expedition  in  December  across  the 
country  to  visit  my  brother  Karl,  who  lived  on  a  crown 
estate  at  Zipke,  near  Barth,  some  twenty  miles  from 
Trantow.  I  was  so  mysteriously  cloaked,  and  capped, 
and  muffled,  and  disguised,  even  having  let  my  beard 
grow  in  preparation  for  this  expedition,  that  if  we  had 
met  any  one  we  knew,  no  one  could  have  recognised  us. 
But  we  took  the  precaution  of  not  stopping  at  any  house 
by  the  way,  but  feeding  our  horses  and  ourselves  in  the 
open  air  in  some  little  woodside  nook.  I  had  brought 
some  Swedish  wine  from  my  great  hamper,  and  some 
Pomeranian  smoked  goose.  We  halted  for  the  last  time 
in  the  fir-wood  near  Franzburg.  There  I  drank  to 
the  memory  of  long-past  days  ;  once  I  had  dreamt  a 
happy  dream  there  with  my  bride,  one  pleasant  sum- 
mer evening  when  the  finches  and  nightingales  were  sing- 
ing all  around,  and  we  were  travelling  from  Greifswald 
to  Lobnitz.  I  drank  to  the  health  of  the  kind  friends 
at  Stockholm,  who  had  given  me  the  wine.  So  was  I 
forced  to  steal  about  the  land  close  by  my  home,  among 
my  friends  and  relations,  like  a  bandit.  They  were 
strange  times  ;  but  this  journey  w^as  made  on  a  bright 
frosty  December  day. 

Yes,  these  v/ere  strange  times.     It  was  a  strange  year, 


yET,  39— 42.]  ^^'^•^  ^^  Berlin.  153 


that  year  1809.  It  had  begun  with  the  banishment  and 
flight  from  Berhn  of  the  noble  Minister  Vom  Stein.  All 
his  labours  had  been  lost,  all  the  struggles  and  conflicts 
which  had  cost  the  lives  of  so  many  men,  had  been  ren- 
dered fruitless  by  a  disgraceful  peace.  The  hopes  of 
millions  were  engulfed  in  an  abyss  of  despair.  It  ended 
with  the  surrender  and  execution  of  the  good  Andreas 
Hofer. 

I  was  at  home,  indeed  ;  but  the  state  of  things  here 
Avas  but  too  evident.  The  country  was  in  the  possession, 
— not  indeed  of  French,  but  of  Mecklenburg  troops, 
though  in  certain  places  French  officials  were  stationed. 
Foreign  adventurers  and  agents  roamed  about  the 
country.  Indeed,  there  were  some  German  rogues  and 
spies  who  were  in  the  pay  and  under  the  instruction  of 
the  foreigners,  and  who  might  have  been  dangerous  to 
an  outlawed  man.  Among  these  Germans  I  do  not 
include  any  Pomeranians.  It  is  not  for  me  to  blacken 
the  character  of  my  country-people.  They  are  rather 
lazy  and  easy-going,  but  thoroughly  good-natured  and 
straightforward.  Their  justly-lauded  cheerfulness  and 
bravery  seldom  stoops,  thank  God,  to  cunning  and 
deceit. 

I  went  to  Berlin.  I  hoped  there  to  be  lost  in  a  crowd, 
and  to  be  able  to  live  and  study  in  peace  and  retirement. 
I  scarcely  knew  the  town  at  all,  having  only  passed 
through  it  a  few  times,  and  once  having  spent  a  week 
there  eleven  years  before. 

I  had  reason  to  hope  that  "  Allmann,  teacher  of  lan- 
guages," would  be  recognised  by  nobody,  and  that  no  one 
would  find  him  out  except  those  to  whom  he  could  trust 


154  lAfc  of  Anidt.  [a.d.  1809— 12, 


himself.  There  lived  one  of  my  most  faithful  and  dearest 
friends — a  friend  of  my  youth — the  bookseller,  George 
Reimer,  a  native  of  Greifswald.  I  wrote  to  him  to  find 
me  lodgings,  not  too  far  from  his  house.  My  brother 
drove  me  with  his  own  horses  as  far  as  Pasewalk,  and 
from  thence  I  took  the  snail-post,  which  a  foot-passenger 
could  very  easily  distance,  to  Berlin. 

I  arrived  two  days  before  Christmas,  the  day  before 
the  state  entry  of  the  king  and  queen  of  Prussia.  I  saw 
the  procession  and  the  rejoicing.  Every  heart  in  which 
there  was  a  spark  of  German  feeling  had  become  wholly 
German,  through  the  common  misfortunes  which  all  alike 
felt,  and  which  all  more  or  less  deserved. 

Berlin,  once  so  proud  and  glorious,  still  in  its  dust  and 
ashes,  lay  like  a  queen  of  lands,  whose  lord  and  master 
had  been  ensnared  by  a  Avicked  enemy.  I  could  not 
help  leaving  my  little  room  and  limping  down  into  the 
street  Unter  den  Linden,  and  into  the  great  square  round 
the  castle,  among  the  shouting  and  weeping  people.  I 
had  one  knee  bound  up  with  a  handkerchief,  for  in  climb- 
ing out  of  the  mail-coach  at  Zehdenitz,  I  had  slipped 
and  hurt  myself  badly.  I  have  spoken  of  the  weeping 
people  among  the  crowd.  Many  eyes  were  wet  with 
grief  and  pain  rather  than  with  joy.  The  red  eyes  of 
the  beautiful  queen,  when  she  showed  herself  at  the 
window  to  the  shouting  crowd,  testified  to  her  deep 
grief  in  the  midst  of  the  joy.  And  where  had  the  old 
victorious  eagles  flown  to  .-'    My  eyes  sought  Scharnhorst,* 

*  Gebhard  David  von  Scharnhorst,  born  of  a  burgher  family  in  the 
territory  of  Hanover,  1756,  and  educated  in  the  military  school  formed  by 
Count  Schaumburg  Lippe  Biickeburg.     He  went  through  the  campaign  of 


^x.  39— 4--]         ^'''  Concealment  in  Berlin.  I5S 


who,  pale,  with  downcast  eyes  and  bent  form,  let  his  horse 
carry  him  along  among  the  other  generals. 

I  remained  thus  in  my  enforced  concealment.  I  di- 
vided my  leisure-time  between  my  kind  Reimer  and  the 
Thier  Garten,  and  in  long  walks  along  the  Spree,  in 
Belle  Vue,  wdth  whose  darkest  and  loneliest  corners  I 
became  well  acquainted.  Sometimes  I  went  with  my 
friend  and  some  companions  to  practise  shooting  with 
rifles  and  pistols,  in  the  hope  that  one  day  we  might  be 
ready  to  use  them  against  the  enemy. 

In  the  houses  of  this  and  one  other  friend,  I  became 
acquainted  with  several  excellent  men,  old  and  young, 
who  have  remained  true  to  the  feelings  which  united  us 
then.  There  were  pleasant  things  even  in  that  time. 
Every  one  was  oppressed,  suffering,  and  poverty-stricken, 
and  in  constant  alternation  between  hope  and  fear ;  yet, 
if  a  spark  of  hope  appeared,  what  a  glow  immediately 
spread  over  the  whole  future,  and  words  were  heard  at 
night  by  the  listening  stars  which  fear  scarcely  dared  to 
whisper  in  company.  It  was  a  time  of  storms  ;  but 
every  one  knows  that  light  always  looks  brightest  among 
the  darkest  clouds. 


1793-95,  in  Flanders,  with  honour.  In  1801  he  entered  the  Prussian  ser- 
vice, and  was  employed  till  1806  in  teaching  at  the  Military  Academy  in 
Berlin.  In  1806  he  was  attached  to  the  Duke  of  Brunswick's  army,  and, 
although  wounded  at  Auerstedt,  joined  Bliicher,  and  was  with  him  in  his 
memorable  retreat  to  Lubeck.  After  the  Peace  of  Tilsit  he  was  entrusted 
with  the  reorganisation  of  the  army,  and  it  was  in  great  part  due  to  his 
efforts  that  Prussia  was  able  to  shake  off  the  French  yoke.  In  1812,  when 
the  King  of  Prussia  joined  Napoleon  in  his  Russian  campaign,  Schamhorst 
retired  to  Silesia,  but,  after  the  French  retreat  he  urged  forward  the  alliance 
with  Russia  and  the  organisation  of  the  Landwehr.  At  the  battle  of  Gross- 
gorschen  he  received  a  wound,  which  proved  fatal  at  Prague,  June,28,  1813. 


156  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S09— 12. 

PRAYER.— 1810. 

Thou,  Who,  ruling,  standest  nigh, 
Fatlier,  hear  me,  hear  my  cry  ; 
For  the  evil  days  oppress  me, 
And  my  burning  wounds  distress  me  ; 
In  my  heart,  deep-burning,  sore, 
Wert  Thou  not,  I  were  no  more. 

For,  oh,  faithful,  ancient  God, 
Thou,  the  German's  great,  good  God, 
Hast  poured  out  Thy  wrath  upon  me  ; 
j\Ien  and  horses  rushing  on  me. 
Trodden  in  the  dust  I  lie, 
Freeman  now  no  more  am  I. 

And  a  vain  and  wicked  folk. 
Threat  me  with  the  headman's  stroke. 
Stealthy  knife,  or  shameful  dying — 
I  must  bow  me,  meekly  sighing  ; 
They  who  from  my  fathers  fled. 
Heap  their  insults  on  my  head. 

During  Arndt's  absence  in  Sweden  the  Professor  of  History 
at  Greifswald,  Moller,  died,  and  the  only  three  members  of  the 
philosophical  faculty  who  were  left  in  the  half-deserted  uni- 
versity, resolved  to  nominate  to  the  vacant  professorship  E.  M. 
Arndt,  and  F.  C.  Riihs.  The  entrance  of  French  troops  into 
the  province,  however,  cut  off  all  communication  with  Stral- 
sund,  and  in  August,  1807,  the  whole  district  fell  under  French 
rule.  By  an  order  of  his  Excellency  the  French  Field-Marshal 
Soult,  given  at  Stettin,  June  i,  1808,  Dr.  Kosegarten  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  vacant  chair,  and  three  weeks  after,  the  following 
decree  was  published  : 

"  In  the  name  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  and  King  Napo- 
leon, Protector  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  and  in  execu- 
tion of  the  imperial  decision  dated  Jan.  i8th,  1808,  the  Marshal 
of  the  Empire,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  2nd  arrondissement 
of  the  Grande  Armee,  taking  into  consideration  the  report  of 
M.  iTntendant,  Commissaire  Imperiale  in  the  province  of 
Swedish  Pomerania,  on  the  necessity  of  replacing  M.  the  Pro- 
fessor Arndt,  for  two  years  past  resident  in  Sweden,  and  appear- 
ing to  have  given  up  his   employment  in  the   University  of 


^T.  39— 42.]  Apprehensions.  157 

Greifswald  :  Arrete,  INI.  the  Professor  Arndt  will  cease  to  be 
inscribed  on  the  rolls  of  the  members  and  professors  of  the 
University  of  Greifswald. 

"Given  at  Stettin,  June  22nd,  1808. 

"  (Signed),  Lk  INIarechal  Soult." 
Professor  Riihs  was  named  by  the  marshal  to  the  professor- 
ship thus  made  vacant,  and  this  arrangement  lasted  till  the 
French  evacuated  the  province. 

About  Easter,   18 10,   I  left  Berlin.     My  native  pro- 
vince had  been  given  back  to  Sweden,  and  I  was  rein- 
stated in  my  old  position  in  Greifswald  by  the  Swedish 
governor,  Count  von  Essen.     He  welcomed  me  as  one 
returning  from  England,  so   far  had  the  report  of  my 
journey  thither  been  spread.     I  entered  upon  my  post 
again,  but  with  little  hope  of  being  allowed  to  remain 
long  undisturbed  in  it.     Who  could  feel  that  anything 
was  secure  even  for  a  couple  of  years }     But  I  wanted 
once  more  to  occupy  a  position  of  respectability  and 
honour ;  and  I  also  wished  to  arrange  my  family  affairs 
a  little.      By  the   following   summer   (181 1)    all   these 
matters  were  settled.     I   sought  and  received  my  dis- 
missal, packed  up  my  furniture,  books,  and  papers,  and 
went  into  the  country  to  Trantow.     I  had  freed  myself 
from  all  ties,  and  was  prepared,  bodily  and   mentally, 
for  anything  that  might  happen  ;  for  storm-clouds  were 
gathering    again    on    the    horizon    of    Europe.       I    had 
enough  warnings  to  take  care  of  myself,  from  my  fore- 
bodings and  those  of  my  friends ;   among  others  from 
the  noble  Villers.* 

*  Charles  Fran9ois  Dominique  de  Villers,  born  1764.  Though  a  lieu- 
tenant in  an  artillery  regiment  in  Strasburg,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study 
of  philosophy,  magnetism,  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages,  etc.  Find- 
ing himself  in  danger  in  consequence  of  a  book  entitled  "  De  la  Liberte," 


158  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S09— 12. 

I  will  give  here  a  little  note  which  he  sent  me  in  that 
glorious  comet-summer  of  181 1,  written  in  the  German 
language  but  in  Greek  letters,  and  which  I  have  kept 
among  my  treasures.     It  was  as  follows  : 

"  There  is  a  great  deal  of  apprehension  felt  in  Paris 
and  Hamburg  about  a  secret  society  in  Germany,  which 
is  said  to  nourish  hostile  designs  against  France.  It  is 
imagined  that  its  headquarters  are  at  Berlin,  and  that  it 
has  spread  itself  over  the  whole  of  the  north  of  Germany. 
Orders  have  been  given  to  Davoust  that  a  close  watch 
is  to  be  kept  over  it." 

My  last  year  and  a  half  in  Greifswald  was  strewn 
with  many  thorns,"^  chiefly  from  the  indifference  and 
foreign  sympathies  of  many  whom  I  ought  to  have  held 
in  honour  from  early  recollections  and  family  ties. 
Kosegarten  had  become  a  professor  in  Greifswald.  He 
and  my  father-in-law  Quistorp,  and  his  brother,  Quistorp 
the  painter,  were  so  caught  by  the  magic  of  Napoleon 
and  the  French,  and  by  the  idolisation  of  their  so-called 
liberal  ideas,  that  our  old  hearty  intercourse  was  com- 
pletely disturbed,  our  opinions  were  wholly  divided,  and 
we  took  up  entirely  different  views.  And  this  was  un- 
avoidable. It  often  went  beyond  mere  annoyance — 
went  so  far  that  old  Quistorp  once  chastised  his  grand- 
son, my  little  nine-year-old  boy,  for  having  said  that  the 
great  Germans   ought  to   kill  all  the  little  Frenchmen 

he  fled  to  Germany,  1793,  where  he  lived  at  Liibeck  in  intercourse  with 
many  of  the  chief  learned  men  of  Germany.  In  18 1 1  he  was  arrested  by 
French  orders  and  sent  away  from  Liibeck.  He  afterwards  became  Pro- 
fessor atGottingen  University,  and  died  at  Leipzig,  in  181 5. 

*  He  was  refused  permission  to  defend  some  anti-Napoleonic  theses  at  a 
university  disputation,  and  the  substance  of  a  speech  prepared  for  the  kinj^'s 
birthday  becoming  known,  he  was  not  allowed  to  deliver  it. 


^T.  39— 42.]  Prepared  for  FligJit.  159 

dead,   saying   that   he  was    saucy,   and    must  hold   his 
tongue. 

But   although   Johannes   Miiller    might  cry,  "  I   have 
seen   Napoleon,   I   have    seen    the   finger    of  God,   and 
everything  must   bow  before   him  ;"   although  Perthes' 
"  Deutsche  Museum  "  might  bewail,  in  hopeless  dirges, 
the  German  nation,  and  though  many  other  croakers  fol- 
lowed its  lead,  and  were  ready  to  justify  and  palliate 
cowardice    and    shame,    like    opera-heroes,   as    Niebuhr 
said  of  them  afterwards,  who  have  fallen  among  shep- 
herdesses, and  willingly  submit  to  be  fettered  with  chains 
of  flowers — yet  there   were  everywhere  indignant  men, 
who  protested  hopefully  against  this  detestable  doctrine 
of  fatalistic  submission ;  and,  thank  God,  there  were  a 
great  many   in   Greifswaid.      And   if  from    those  most 
closely  connected  with  me  I  met  with  opposition  instead 
of  sympathy,  yet  in  company  with  those  revered  men, 
Von  Weigel  and  Von   Hagemeister,   and   my  younger 
friends,    Schildener,    Billroth,    Gagern,    Gesterding,  and 
Eichstedt — Rudolphi  and  Ruhs  had  left  Greifswaid  for 
Berlin— I  was  able  to  give  full  expression  to  my  indig- 
nation and  my  hopes.     Our  hopes  were  not  grounded 
on  the  appearance  of  the  comet,  which  was  supposed 
by  the  superstitious  to  betoken  great  changes ;  we  had 
a  better  foundation  for  our  belief.     We  had  Spain — and 
Arthur  Wellesley. 

How  often  have  we  drunk  to  the  health  of  the  great 
European  deliverer,  Wellington  !  In  my  intercourse  with 
the  farmers  and  country  gentlemen,  on  my  visits  to  my 
brothers,  I  awoke  such  romantic  interest  in  the  great 
Englishman,  and  in  the  Spaniards,  Romana,  Ballesteros, 


i6o  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1809—12. 


the  Empecinado,  and  Castagnos,  that  whoever  possessed  a 
flock  of  merino  sheep,  named  the  finest  wether  after  one 
of  them,  which  was  better  than  naming  German  dogs 
after  the  French  generals  and  devastators,  Melac  and 
Duras,  as  they  used  to  do  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eiehteenth  centuries. 

I  spent  some  time  at  Trantow,  near  Loitz,  prepared 
either  for  travel  or  flight.      Friends   at   St.  Petersburg 
obtained  for  me  letters  of  recommendation  to  the  Russian 
ambassador,  Count  Lieven,  and  directly  after  the  new 
year,   181 2,  I  went  for  a  week  to  Berlin,  and  there  re- 
ceived  from   him    a   pass   to    Russia.      This   was   still 
Europe.     My  desires  had  never  turned  towards  Ame- 
rica— to   its    money-seeking  educated   barbarism — even 
when  I  thought  Europe  was  lost.      I  had  only  returned 
from  Berlin  one  day,  when  being  with  a  great  company 
assembled    in    the    evening,    at    the    house    of   Provost 
Barkow,  of  Loitz,  a  messenger  on  horseback  brought  me 
a  letter  from  my  friend  Billroth,  at  Greifswald,  telling 
me  that  the  French  were  over  the  border,  and  would 
probably   overrun    the   whole   land    immediately.      We 
packed  up  and  dispersed  with  the  utmost  speed.     I  set 
ofl"  the  same  night  for  Straisund,  which  the  French  had 
not  yet  reached,  where  I  obtained  some  money,  slept 
the   next   night  with   a  worthy  Swedish   friend,   Baron 
Munck,    in    Branshagen,  and    set  off   in    the   morning 
in   a  sledge,  continually  meeting   French  hussars  and 
dragoons  by  the   way,    at   dawn   reaching   Greifswald, 
which    was    already    swarming    with    foreign    soldiers. 
There  I  took  a  hasty  leave  of  some  friends,  and  then 
started  for  a  place  where   a  sledge   belonging  to  my 


JET.  39-42.]  Escape.  i6r 

brother  from  Trantovv  was  waiting  for  me,  and  reached 
it  by  by-paths  in  the  darkness  of  the  evening.  I  had 
one  serious  alarm  in  Greifswald.  At  the  entrance  of  the 
bridge  near  the  Steinbeck  gate,  I  caught  sight  of  a 
suspicious-looking  fellow,  who  recognised  me  imme- 
diately, and  greeted  me  in  an  excessively  friendly  and 
crafty  manner.  I  knew  him  to  be  a  Greifswald  rogue, 
who  had  good  reason  for  not  being  my  friend,  and 
whom  every  one  accused  of  having  been  a  French  spj'- 
during  their  last  visit.  But  apparently  he  did  not  desire 
my  blood. 

I  slipped  into  the  house  at  Trantow  by  a  back-door, 
and  betook  myself  to  a  little  room,  whence  I  could 
easily  have  got  into  the  thickly-planted  garden,  with 
whose  labyrinths  and  means  of  exit  I  was  well  acquainted. 
Thence  it  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  to  escape  to 
the  woody  spots  on  the  marshes  of  the  Peene.  There 
were  already  several  French  officers  and  soldiers  in  the 
house.  My  brother  cunningly  plied  them  with  wine 
and  brandy.  They  were  weary,  and  half  frozen  with 
long  marching  through  ice  and  snow,  and  snored  peace- 
fully, while  I  spent  the  night  in  arranging  papers, 
writing  letters,  and  taking  leave  of  my  friends ;  for  as 
long  as  a  man  is  alive  he  always  imagines  he  has  some- 
thing to  settle  and  arrange,  even  when  his  light  is  burnt 
nearly  to  the  end.  At  early  dawn,  I  stepped  through 
the  kitchen  and  out  at  the  back  door,  with  rapid  steps 
over  the  snow,  which  crackled  under  my  feet.  My  aunt, 
my  sister  and  my  little  boy  clung  to  me,  and  I  had  to 
shake  them  off  with  many  kisses  and  hurry  away.  I  heard 
my  little  boy  running  after  me^  and  crying  aloud  ;  my 

II 


1 62  Life  of  Aimdt.  [a.d.  1812, 

heart  was  full  of  anger  and  bitterness.  I  sped  rapidly 
through  the  bushes  and  reeds  down  to  the  Peene  and 
away  over  the  frozen  river.  As  I  came  up  out  of  the 
meadows  into  the  hill-country,  over  the  Prussian  border, 
the  sun  rose  brightly  on  the  most  beautiful  winter's  day. 
I  accepted  it  devoutly  as  a  good  omen,  and  soon  met 
my  brother,  who  had  driven  in  his  sledge  through  Loitz. 
We  went  on  to  a  gentleman's  farm,  and  ate  a  Pome- 
ranian breakfast  with  an  old  Captain  von  Gloden, 
arriving  towards  evening  at  Clempenow,  on  the  Tollen- 
See,  at  the  house  of  a  magistrate  named  Fleischmanny. 
a  dear  old  friend  of  ours. 

The  bright  auspicious  day  which  rose  upon  me  and 
my  prayers  on  the  Peene  reminds  me  of  a  letter  which 
my  dearest  youngest  sister,  pupil,  and  friend  wrote  to 
me  in  those  days  of  turmoil  at  Clempenow.  She  and 
my  brother  Fritz  were  my  mother's  most  gifted  children. 
Sometimes  the  feelings  of  those  past  days  will  blossom 
again  through  the  grey  moss  of  years. 

"  Dear  Moritz, 

'•  I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  a  happy  omeiT 
for  your  future,  but  since  you  have  been  away  I  have 
grown  calmer,  and  only  feel  the  gentle  melancholy  which 
follows  on  bitter  grief  for  the  death  of  a  friend.  Your 
Karl  Treu  is  so  lonely,  and  we  cannot  enjoy  the  last 
beautiful  days  which  have  been  given  us  in  peace  and 
happiness.  I  feel  a  courage  in  me  which  does  not  easily 
bend  ;  only  I  pray  God  daily  that  I  may  use  it  rightly. 
If  only  our  aunt  remains  well  all  will  go  right.  My 
dearest  Moritz,  I  too  saw  the  moon  and   the  beautiful 


JET.  42.']  Berlin  Again.  163 


sunrise  when  you  left  us,  and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  a 
thousand  protecting  angels  were  hovering  over  you. 
Karl  Treu  kisses  this  sheet,  and  I  and  my  aunt  send 
a  thousand  blessings  and  good  wishes." 

So  again  through  the  midst  of  enemies  I  reached  a 
place  of  security.  There  is  much  need  for  caution  and 
discretion  on  such  occasions.  One  must  not  ask  too 
many  questions,  nor  appear  too  anxious  nor  too  com- 
posed ;  but  must  endeavour  to  keep  the  happy  medium. 
However,  one  must  be  ready  to  show  a  bold  front  if  need- 
ful, as  I  did  two  years  before  when  I  stormed  the  Custom- 
house on  the  Anklamm  dyke  at  midnight.  Yet  courage 
alone  is  not  enough.     God  carried  me  safely  through, 

I  rested  at  Clempenow  a  fortnight,  and  arrived 
at  Berlin  at  the  beginning  of  February.  There  I  found 
the  city  in  a  state  of  utter  confusion,  and  swarming  with 
every  variety  of  people,  now  in  hope  and  now  in  despair, 
waiting  to  see  when  and  where  the  storm  would  break 
which  now  darkened  the  horizon,  and  what  part  the  King 
of  Prussia  would  take  in  it.  I  came  fresh  into  this  whirl, 
and  of  course  joined  the  circle  of  my  old  friend  Reimer, 
and  my  friends  of  the  winter  of  1809.  Here  was  life 
and  energy,  enthusiasm  and  activity  to  the  full.  Hearts 
beat  faster,  love  found  perfect  satisfaction ;  hatred  and 
resentment,  in  their  youthful  vigour  with  their  wings 
yet  undipped,  yielded  for  the  moment  almost  as  perfect 
bliss.  There  I  formed  friendships  with  many  excellent 
men,  and  entered  at  once  a  great  league,  whose  bond  of 
union  was  hatred  of  the  foreigners,  and  a  burning  desire 
for   their   expulsion  and  extermination.     We    had    few 

II — 2 


164  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 


other  doctrines  or  shibolleths  ;    I,  certainly,  no    other 
at  all. 

However,  the  word  to  march  was  soon  again  given. 
Circumstances  had  forced  the  King  of  Prussia  to  ally 
himself  with  the  arch-enemy,  and  in  the  beginning  of 
March  I  set  off  towards  the  east  to  Breslau,  being  pro- 
vided with  an  Austrian  passport  for  the  Bohemian  baths, 
besides  my  Russian  one.  When  the  alliance  with  Na- 
poleon was  made  known,  many  Prussian  officers,  who 
could  not  bring  themselves  to  fight  under  French  colours, 
asked  leave  of  the  king  to  retire,  which  was  graciously 
accorded  them.  The  ruler  understood  and  did  not  dis- 
approve their  conduct.  Some  went  to  Silesia,  there  to 
wait  till  the  course  of  events  should  be  made  clear  ; 
others  made  the  best  of  their  way  to  Russia,  before  the 
ways  over  sea  or  land  were  closed  to  them,  hoping 
there  to  find  employment  for  their  swords. 

Colonel  Count  Chazot  took  me  with  him  in  his  carriage 
to  Breslau,  where  he  stayed  some  weeks,  and  then  fled  to 
Russia.  The  spring  months  at  Breslau  were  at  first  aslively 
as  my  February  at  Berlin  had  been.  At  first  I  had  acquaint- 
ances from  Berlin,  Colonel  Chazot  and  Von  Gneisenau,* 

*  August  Wilhelm  Anton  von  Gneisenau,  the  son  of  an  Austrian  officer, 
was  bom  in  Saxony,  1760.  In  17S0  he  -went  to  America,  figliting  in  the 
service  of  the  Margi-ave  of  Anspach  Baireuth,  but  on  his  return  to  Europe 
entered  the  Prussian  service.  He  served  in  the  campaign  in  Poland,  1 793 
and  1794,  and  obtained  the  reputation  of  being  the  officer  who  understood 
his  business  best.  In  1806  he  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Saalfeld,  but  it 
was  in  the  defence  of  Colberg  that  his  genius  was  first  displayed.  After 
the  Peace  of  Tilsit  he  worked  with  Scharnhorst  in  the  re-organisation  of  the 
anny,  and  was  sent  on  several  political  missions  to  England  and  elsewhere. 
In  1813  he  fought  under  Bliicher,  succeeding  to  Schamhorst's  post  as  chief 
of  the  staff,  after  the  latter's  death.     He  was  present  at  the  battles  of  Ligny 


^T.  43.]  BliicJier.  165 

the  President  of  Police,  Gruner,*  who,  being  well 
known  as  an  enemy  of  the  French,  had  naturally  not 
been  able  to  remain  at  his  post  in  Berlin,  and  several 
others  besides.  Closely  united  for  some  weeks,  they 
then  dispersed  in  different  directions.  Sometimes  old 
General  Blucherf  came  in  ;  even  in  gay  company  always 


and  Waterloo,  and  was  most  active  in  the  pursuit  of  the  French — a  rich 
booty,  including  the  Emperor's  own  carriage,  falling  into  his  hands.  After 
the  peace  he  withdrew  from  active  service,  but  was  induced,  in  1818,  to 
take  office.  He  died  in  1S31  at  Posen,  according  to  one  account,  of 
cholera. 

*  Karl  Justus  von  Gniner,  bom  at  Osnabrlick,  1777,  entered  the  Prus- 
sian service  in  1S03.  He  was  made  President  of  Police  after  the  Peace  of 
Tilsit,  but,  in  consequence  of  the  suspicions  of  the  French,  retired  into 
Bohemia,  where  he  worked  energetically,  by  secret  coiTespondence  with 
England,  Russia,  and  different  parts  of  Germany,  to  overthrow  the  French 
power.  Arrested  upon  French  requisition  and  sent  to  Peterwardein,  he 
was  only  released  at  Russia's  demand  in  1813.  Afterwards,  when 
Governor  of  the  Provinces  on  the  Rhine,  he  contributed  essays  to  Gorres' 
"  Rheinischer  Merkur."     He  died  in  1820. 

t  Gebhardt  Leberecht  Bllicher,  born  1742.  The  son  of  a  Rittmeister, 
he  was  sent,  during  the  Seven  Years'  War,  to  be  brought  up  in  Riigen. 
He  ran  away  from  home  and  joined  a  regiment  of  Swedish  hussars,  but 
being  taken  prisoner  by  the  Prussians,  was  persuaded  to  enter  the  Prussian 
service.  Being  unjustly  superseded  by  Frederick  II.,  he  demanded  his 
dismissal  and  lived  fifteen  years  in  retirement,  employing  himself  in  farm- 
ing. On  the  accession  of  Frederick  William  II.,  he  rejoined  the  army  and 
was  engaged  in  the  campaign  of  1793-95'  In  1S06  he  commanded  the  rear- 
guard, which  fought  bravely  to  cover  the  retreat,  but  was  forced  to  capitu- 
late at  Rathau.  In  1813  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Prussian  army, 
and  fought  at  Llttzen  and  Bautzen— won  a  brilliant  victory  on  the  Katzbach, 
and  was  the  first  to  force  an  entrance  into  Leipzig,  where  the  three  allied 
monarchs  heaped  honours  upon  him.  Crossing  the  Rhine  he  fought  the 
battles  of  Brienne  and  La  Rothiere,  where  he  won  the  victory  over 
iSTapoleon  himself,  and  led  the  Pmssian  army  to  Paris.  After  the 
conclusion  of  peace  he  visited  England,  where  he  received  an  enthusiastic 
welcome.  In  181 5  he  was  again  commander  of  the  Prussian  army,  and 
after  having  a  narrow  escape  of  his  life  at  Ligny,  led  the  army  to  Waterloo, 
and  conducted  the  pursuit  of  the  French  army,  reaching  the  gates  of  Paris 
on  June  29.     He  died  on  his  estate  of  Ki-iblowitz,  in  Silesia,  in  1820. 


1 66  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

retaining  something  of  the  field-marshal  air.  In  spite  of 
his  age  he  had  a  splendid  appearance,  tall  and  quick  in 
his  movements,  and  with  all  his  limbs  as  firm  and  v/ell- 
rounded  as  those  of  a  young  man.  His  face  astonished 
you  most  ;  even  in  the  midst  of  jokes  which,  like  a  soldier, 
he  exchanged  with  every  one,  it  seemed  composed  of 
two  distinct  natures.  His  brow,  nose,  and  eyes  were 
divine  ;  but  his  mouth  and  chin  were  quite  those  of  an 
ordinary  mortal.  There  was  not  only  beauty  and  great- 
ness in  the  upper  part  of  his  face,  but  also  a  deep  melan- 
choly, which  resided  chiefly  in  his  eyes,  which  were  as 
dark  as  the  blue  of  the  sea,  and  almost  as  melancholy. 
For  though  they  could  glance  and  laugh  pleasantly,  they 
would  often  suddenly  darken  with  a  terrible  earnestness 
and  anger.  The  savage  gloom  of  the  old  hero  overturned 
his  reason  for  a  time  after  his  misfortunes  in  East  Pome- 
rania  in  1806-7,  and  he  would  transfix  the  flies  and  dark 
specks  on  the  wall  with  his  sword,  crying,  "  Napoleon." 
But  his  mouth  and  chin  gave  one  quite  a  different  impres- 
sion, although  they  were  sufficiently  in  character  with  the 
rest  of  his  face.  There  you  could  read  the  hussar  nature 
which  was  every  now  and  then  revealed  in  the  play  of 
his  features  and  the  gleam  of  his  eyes,  giving  him  the 
look  of  a  weasel  lying  in  wait  for  his  prey. 

Here  I  also  saw  Scharnhorst,  who  had  taken  flight 
from  Berlin  before  the  beginning  of  the  new  order  of 
things,  and  his  never-to-be-forgotten  daughter,  Countess 
Julie  zu  Dohna,  who  strongly  resembled  her  father,  and 
who,  with  her  noble  aspirations,  dwelt  in  a  perpetual 
seventh  heaven. 


^T.  43-]  ScJiarnJiorst.  167 


Her  husband,  Rittmeister  Burggraf  Friedrich  zu 
Dohna,  at  present  general  of  the  Pomeranian  forces, 
called  upon  me  and  introduced  me  to  his  wife  and  her 
father.  After  that  I  was  a  great  deal  with  them,  often 
accompanying  them  into  the  pleasant  country  round, 
where  one  could  be  more  free,  and  give  fuller  expression 
to  the  hope  or  sorrow  of  the  moment.  What  a  com- 
pletely different  man  Scharnhorst  was  from  Bliicher ! 
Slenderly  made,  and  rather  thin,  he  would  saunter 
about  in  a  most  unsoldierlike  manner,  generally  rather 
bent  His  face  had  a  good  contour,  and  his  features 
were  finely  formed  ;  his  blue  eye  was  large,  well  opened, 
beautiful,  and  intelligent.  Yet,  as  a  rule,  it  was  impos- 
sible to  read  his  face ;  he  usually  kept  his  eyes  even 
half-closed,  like  a  man  who  is  no  longer  evolving  ideas, 
but  rather  resting  on  ideas  already  formed.  Yet  thoughts 
were  really  always  swarming  in  that  clear  brain  ;  only  he 
had  learned  to  hide  his  thoughts  and  feelings  under  a 
half-transparent  veil  of  calmness.  Yet,  however  care- 
fully and  guardedly  he  kept  his  features  and  gestures 
under  control,  he  gave  one  the  impression  of  a  plain, 
sensible  man.  The  bolts  and  bars  were  not  notice- 
able. 

Such  was  his  manner,  and  it  was  as  much  the  result 
of  circumstances  as  of  his  natural  character.  He  had 
raised  himself  from  a  humble  position,  and  had  learnt, 
by  long  experience,  the  lesson  of  obedience  and  of 
yielding  to  stern  necessity.  His  position  in  Prussia, 
though  his  merits  had  been  recognised  by  the  king  and 
many  good  men,  had  been  that  of  a  foreigner — of  an 
envied  foreigner  ;  and  in  the  bad  times  which  followed 


1 68  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

on  the  years  1805  and  1806,  watched  by  his  own  people 
and  by  strangers,  and  long  suspected  by  the  foreign 
spies,  he  was  forced  to  assume  the  appearance  of  a 
simple,  insignificant  person,  after  Brutus  fashion,  even 
when  he  was  engaged  on  some  great  and  bold  under- 
taking. This  could  be  seen  in  his  manner  of  speaking, 
which  was  slow  and  almost  inaudible.  He  gave  expres- 
sion to  the  boldest  thoughts  with  sententious  brevity, 
and  in  a  drawling  tone.  Plain,  simple  truth,  straight- 
forward yet  prudent  boldness — such  was  Scharnhorst. 
He  belonged  to  those  few  who  think  that  no  danger 
should  make  a  man  go  a  hair's  breadth  out  of  the  way 
of  truth  and  justice.  Shall  I  add  to  this  that  this  noble 
man,  through  whose  hands  millions  passed,  never  soiled 
them  with  a  penny  that  was  not  his  own.  He  was  a 
vir  innoccns  in  the  ancient  sense  of  the  word.  He  died 
poor. 

Such  was  the  outward  appearance  of  this  earnest, 
virtuous  man,  who  felt  more  deeply  than  any  one  else 
the  woes  of  his  country,  and  worked  harder  than  any 
one  else  to  save  it.  Any  one  seeing  him  leaning  on  his 
stick,  thoughtful  and  meditative,  with  half-closed  eyes, 
and  yet  dauntless  brow,  might  have  thought  him  the 
genius  of  Death  leaning  over  the  sarcophagus  of  Prussian 
glory,  and  expressing  the  thought  how  great  we  once 
were ! 

I  did  not  spend  these  months  entirely  in  Breslau  and  the 
neighbourhood  ;  but  wandered  about  beautiful  Silesia,  and 
the  Prussian  and  Bohemian  Riesengebirge,  studying  in 
my  usual  way  places  and  people,  and  at  the  baths  of 
Rheinerz,   Landeck,  and  Kudowa  meeting  friends  from 


JET.  42.]  Means.  1 69 

Berlin,  with  whom  I  discussed  the  great  hopes  of  the 
day. 

If  any  one  should  ask,  How  did  you  obtain  the  means 
of  subsistence  during  this  fugitive  life?  I  answer:  God  had 
implanted  in  me  as  a  boy  a  foreboding  of  my  fate.  In 
my  abhorrence  of  effeminacy  and  luxury,  I  had  accus- 
tomed myself  to  hardship  and  fatigue,  and  while  I  could 
enjoy  comforts,  I  had  learnt  to  do  without  them.  Nor 
had  I  given  up  these  habits  after  I  was  a  full-grown 
man,  but  kept  myself  inured  to  night-watching,  hunger, 
and  thirst  ;  and  proud  of  my  pedestrian  powers,  which 
God  graciously  preserved  to  me,  I  often  Avent  six  or 
eight  (German)  miles  on  foot,  when  my  brothers,  ac- 
cording to  the  luxurious  fashion  of  the  times,  would  ride 
on  good  horses.  After  the  rise  of  Napoleon,  I  prepared 
myself  for  hard  experiences,  and  arranged  my  life  ac- 
cordingly. I  had  managed  to  save  a  good  deal  from  my 
salary  at  Stockholm  ;  the  arrears  of  many  years  at  Greifs- 
wald  had  been  paid  to  me  in  18 10.  I  had  also  made 
some  money  by  my  writings. 

Although  in  the  sentences  above  he  does  not  allude  to  it,  it  is 
evident  that  Arndt  had  some  difficulty  in  obtaining  this  money 
due  to  him  at  Greifswald.  The  administration  was  willinsr 
enough  to  grant  it  him,  but  the  treasury,  after  the  departure  of  the 
French,  was  so  low  that  they  found  it  hard  even  to  provide  for 
those  who  had  remained  at  their  posts  during  the  war.  In  a 
letter  to  a  member  of  the  administration,  dated  Greifswald, 
September  7,  iSio,  Arndt  writes: 

"  I  have  described  to  you  my  condition  and  my  necessity. 
If  I  could  only  obtain  between  now  and  Easter  four  hundred 
thalers,  I  should  be  able  to  get  over  my  first  difficulties."  Again, 
in    a  writing  of  the  same  date,  he  says,  that   "  in  this  fatal 


I/O  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812, 

time,  in  consequence  of  the  pressure  of  many  embarrassments, 
he  is  greatly  in  need  of  the  whole  sum,  but  that  he  will  be  con- 
tent with  notes  of  hand  for  the  greater  part,  if  he  can  have  four 
hundred  or  four  hundred  and  fifty  thalers  before  Easter — a 
favour  for  which,  under  the  circumstances,  he  shall  never  be 
able  to  be  sufficiently  grateful."  And  again,  on  February  20, 
181 1,  after  having  stated  that  his  salary  from  Christmas,  1807,  to 
Easter,  iSio,  was  still  in  arrears,  he  begs  that  a  few  hundred 
thalers  may  be  given  him,  and  that  they  will  not  keep  him 
waiting  too  long  for  the  rest,  as  the  pressure  on  all  sides  is  often 
great.  In  the  end,  on  March  ist,  five  notes  were  given  to 
Arndt,  for  two  hundred  thalers  each,  payable  with  interest  at 
five  per  cent.,  in  the  following  five  years,  dating  from  Trinity 
in  that  year.  Whether  he  ever  obtained  the  rest  of  the  money 
there  is  no  evidence  to  decide.* 

If  I  sometimes  spent  a  friedrichs  d'or  or  a  ducat  in 
entertaining  my  friends  in  my  solitary  journeys,  I  had 
few  expenses.  What  did  it  matter  if  the  fugitive  fared 
like  a  hunter  in  the  forest,  or  a  soldier  Avho  has  lost  his 
regiment } 

At  last  I  was  forced  to  leave.  About  the  middle  of 
May  Napoleon  arrived  in  Dresden,  where  he  had  appointed 
to  meet  the  kings  and  princes  for  the  last  great  consulta- 
tion. On  May  29th  he  left  Dresden,  and  svv^ept  down 
upon  Poland,  and  I  could  no  longer  doubt  that  there 
would  be  war.  In  June  I  went  to  Prague,  determined  to 
push  on  as  quickly  as  possible  towards  the  east  before 
all  the  roads  were  stopped. 

His  prophecies  and  those  of  his  worshippers  concerning 
this  Scythian  campaign  were  read  by  every  one,  and  they 
were  to  come  true,  though  God  brought  them  to  pass  in 

*  Hoefer's  "  Arndt  and  the  University  of  Greifswald." 


^T.  42.]  Prophecies.  iji 

quite  a  different  manner  from  that  which  men  expected. 
Thus  the  God  of  the  Christians  also  deceives  the  proud 
and  audacious  through  their  own  oracles. 

The  Allgemeine  Zeitiuig,  of  Dresden,  wrote  on  the 
day  of  the  dreaded  tyrant's  departure:  "Dresden  has 
enjoyed  the  happiness  of  entertaining  the  greatest  hero 
and  ruler  of  the  age  for  twelve  days  within  her  walls, 
under  circumstances  which  must  make  the  event  for  ever 
memorable  in  history.  Every  moment  was  heavy  with  fate, 
and  weighted  with  great  resolutions,  and  the  consequences 
of  the  negotiations  here  carried  on,  and  the  measures  decided 
ttpon,  will  astound  the  zvhole  of  Europey 

And  he  himself,  in  the  declaration  of  war  issued  to  his 
soldiers  on  the  22nd  of  June,  used,  among  others,  the 
following  words  :  "  An  irresistible  destiny  carries  Russia 
along.     The  will  of  Fate  must  be  fulfilled." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

JOURNEY     TO     RUSSIA. 

Leaves  Prague. — A  Viennese  Smuggler. — AVitli  the  Russian  Ambassador's 
Suite.  —  Smolensk.  —  Moscow.  —  Count  Rostopchin. — Novgorod. — St. 
Petersburg. 

In  Prague  I  met  Gruner,  Avho  told  me  that  the  Minister 
vom  Stein,  who  had  been  summoned  from  Prague  to  St. 
Petersburg  by  the  Emperor  Alexander,  wished  me  to 
go  to  him  at  once.  Gruner  had  told  him  that  I  had  my 
passport  for  Russia  ready  w^hen  I  was  at  Berlin.  He 
was  surprised  that  I  was  so  long  in  coming  to  Prague, 
for  he  had  written  to  me  at  Breslau,  several  weeks  before, 
about  Stein's  wish,  but  the  letter  never  reached  me. 
Now  arose  the  question,  what  was  the  shortest,  quickest, 
and  most  secure  road,  under  existing  circumstances  to 
Russia  .''  How  could  a  passport  through  Austria  be  ob- 
tained .-*  War  was  declared,  and  fighting  probably  already 
begun,  and  Austria  was  allied  with  Napoleon  against 
Russia.  We  found  that  to  obtain  a  passport  in  these 
circumstances  for  such  a  journey  was  impossible, 
although  I  was  an  unknown  and  insignificant  person. 
It  would  have  been  easier  to  return  to  the  Baltic,  and 
try   to   make   my   way   from   some   harbour  there,  by 


JET.  42.]  T/ie  Smuggler.  173 


Sweden,  into  Russia.  But  at  last,  fortunately,  a  way  out 
of  the  difficulty  offered  itself,  which  might  succeed, 
though  there  was  some  danger  connected  with  it.  But 
there  must  be  danger  any  way.  We  discovered  a  mer- 
chant in  a  small  way,  a  native  of  Vienna,  who  was 
accustomed  to  travel  as  a  smuggler  over  the  Reisen- 
gebirge  and  the  Carpathians,  between  Bohemia,  Silesia, 
Hungary,  and  Poland.  He  was  now  planning  a  journey 
to  Brody.  I  offered  to  share  the  expense  with  him  if 
he  would  get  me  entered  on  his  passport  as  his  clerk  or 
servant,  and  we  came  to  an  agreement. 

So  I  set  off  with  my  little  Viennese,  and  v.-as  destined 
to  share  a  long  and  difficult  journey  with  him.  He  was 
a  little,  thin  man,  and,  as  I  thought,  looked  determined. 
I  hoped  I  had  found  a  rapid  travelling  companion  in 
him  ;  besides,  I  had  made  it  a  condition  that  we  should 
not  stop  on  the  way,  because,  to  me,  much  depended  on 
the  rapidity  of  our  journey.  I  was  afraid  that  if  I  vv'as 
delayed,  the  districts  through  which  I  had  to  pass  would 
be  blocked  by  the  tumult  of  war.  Oh,  what  a  mistake 
I  had  made!  The  thin,  haggard  form  concealed  a 
genuine,  thorough-going  Viennese,  to  whom  the  smell  of 
a  roasted  fowl  was  irresistible.  At  every  post-house  we 
must  sit  down  and  eat  and  drink.  I  soon  schooled  my- 
self into  patience,  and  tried,  when  I  had  learnt  to  under- 
stand my  master's  capacity  for  eating — for  he  was  my 
master  during  the  journey — to  turn  the  whole  matter 
into  a  joke.  I  would  not  allow  myself  to  be  enraged  by 
the  rapidity  with  which  my  ducats  melted  away,  but  the 
loss  of  so  much  valuable  time  was  another  matter.  I\Iy 
part  was  often  droll  enough.     At  Olmiitz,  for  instance, 


174  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d,  1812. 

we  stopped  at  a  magnificent  hotel.  He  ordered  a  good 
dinner  immediately,  with  the  best  Hungarian  wine,  and 
sat  down  to  it,  saying  to  me,  "  It  might  look  suspicious 
and  be  dangerous  if  you,  as  my  clerk,  should  sit  down  to 
table  with  me.  You  had  better  stay  outside  and  keep 
about  the  chaise,  as  if  you  had  something  to  do  there." 
So  he  sat  inside  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  while  the  horses 
stood  waiting  and  I  walked  about  in  the  rain,  enjoying 
some  bread-and-butter  and  half  a  bottle  of  bad  wine. 
The  next  day  when  we  reached  the  charming  pastures 
round  Biala,  he  pronounced  all  the  wine  too  bad  to  be 
drunk,  and,  with  the  air  of  a  baron  or  student,  jflung 
several  bottles,  which  I  had  paid  for,  out  of  window. 
"  The  people  here,"  he  said,  "  are  half  Poles  ;  one  must  be 
short  with  them."  However,  except  for  these  interludes, 
we  got  on  pretty  well,  for  he  was  no  talker.  The  good 
wine  I  had  provided  did  not  fail  of  its  effect.  He  snored 
through  the  greater  part  of  the  journey,  and  I  was  free 
to  enjoy  the  glorious  country  of  Bohemia,  rich  Moravia, 
beautiful  Gallicia,  lying  at  peace  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Carpathians.  Gallicia  is  lovely  indeed,  with  a  constant 
variety  of  hills,  woods,  and  meadows.  But,  alas !  Sar- 
matian  dirt,  Polish  beggars,  and  miserable  huts  in  close 
connection  with  the  castles  of  the  grandees,  met  one 
everywhere,  and  the  dirt  and  misery  increased  as  we  left 
German  territory  behind,  and  drew  nearer  to  the 
Hebrew  town  of  Brody. 

Here  we  were  close  to  the  Russian  border.  I  threw 
off  my  servant's  disguise  and  dressed  myself  for  the 
next  act.  My  Viennese  accompanied  me  still.  My 
heart  beat  fast  as  I  caught  sight  of  the  fluttering  pennons 


^T.  42.]  TJic  Russian  Frontier.  175 

of  six  mounted  Cossacks  at  the  frontier  gate  of  Radzi- 
wilofif.  My  former  master  nudged  me,  saying,  "  Let  me 
run  on  in  front  and  give  them  five  ducats,  for  I  know  the 
fellows,  and  here  you  will  have  to  pay  your  way  !"  I 
cast  a  disdainful  glance  at  him,  feeling  sure  that  the 
rogue  only  wanted  to  get  something  further  out  of  me, 
bade  him  adieu  and  drew  out  my  passport.  The  lancers 
looked  at  it,  bowed  respectfully,  and  led  me  to  a  really 
pretty  and  pleasant  custom-house.  The  custom-house 
officer,  a  Russian  Councillor,  and  I  think  a  Courlander, 
named  Giese,  came  up  immediately  and  looked  at  my 
passport,  and  then  took  me  most  kindly  to  his  house, 
where  I  was  introduced  to  his  wife,  a  very  beautiful 
Pole,  and  som.e  other  ladies.  I  was  shown  into  a  very 
clean  room,  and  the  officer,  when  I  asked  for  news  of  the 
war  and  directions  for  my  further  journey,  answered, 
''  Come,  we  are  going  to  have  dinner  ;  stay  here  and 
rest  yourself  to-night,  and  to-morrow  we  will  arrange 
about  your  going  on." 

Both  here  and  at  Brody  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
lively  bustle.  Austrian  and  Russian  officers  went  to  and 
fro.  On  the  Austrian  side  there  was  no  watch  kept,  and 
several  Austrian  officers  who,  like  many  Prussians,  were 
burning  to  fight  against  the  foreigner,  passed  through 
that  very  day — among  others.  Colonel  von  Tettenborn 
and  a  Pdttmeister  Mauser,  whom  I  was  to  meet  again  in 
several  different  places,  and  finally  in  St.  Petersburg. 

Thus  I  had  come  well  through  the  purgatory  of  my 
journey  with  the  smuggler,  and  soon  forgot  my  vexation 
and  the  loss  of  my  ducats.  After  the  dirt  of  the  Jewish 
inn  at  the  last  stopping  place,  and  the  perpetual  irrita- 


176  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 


tion  of  my  companion's  presence,  I  found  myself  in  a 
paradise.  A  capital  table,  excellent  Hungarian  wine, 
well-educated  women  who  could  speak  both  French  and 
German,  and  a  refined  and  kindly  host.  This  paradise 
became  even  more  perfect  when  my  host  made  a  dis- 
covery which  changed  his  hospitality  into  kindness. 

At  first  I  had  attributed  my  good  fortune  to  the 
contents  of  my  passport,  but  now  I  could  no  longer 
doubt  that  his  kindness  was  the  overflow  of  real  affec- 
tion. After  we  had  emptied  several  glasses  and 
talked  about  different  things,  he  asked  me  to  tell  him 
my  exact  name,  which  he  could  not  quite  make  out  from 
the  passport.  When  I  said  "  Arndt,"  "  Arndt,"  he  re- 
peated, "  what  Arndt  ?  I  had  a  very  dear  friend  when  I 
was  studying  at  Jena,  whose  name  was  Friedrich  Arndt, 
from  Pomerania,  and  it  seems  to  me  you  talk  very  like 
him ;"  and  he  ran  and  fetched  his  album  and  showed  me 
some  comic  verses  which  my  brother  had  written  in  it. 
When  I  explained  that  Friedrich  Arndt  was  my  brother, 
and  told  him  where  he  was  living  and  what  he  was  doing, 
I  became  at  once  a  friend  of  the  house. 

After  that  we  discussed  my  journey  to  Moscow  and 
St.  Petersburg,  and  he  said,  "  Your  passport  gives  you  an 
escort,  and  that  would  do  very  well,  but  I  have  a  better 
idea.  I  have  to  make  preparations  for  some  of  the 
attaches  of  the  Russian  Embassy  at  Vienna,  who  will 
probably  arrive  to-morrow  or  next  day.  It  v.iil  be  a 
capital  opportunity  for  you  to  travel  in  company,  and  it 
will  be  more  comfortable  and  secure  for  you."  I  agreed, 
slept  that  night  with  my  friendly  host,  and  was  to  have 
stayed  another  ;  but  the   second  day,  quite   early,  the 


^T.  42.]  Companions.  I77 


caravan  arrived  to  which  I  was  to  attach  myself.  They 
came  in  two  splendid  carriages,  having  with  them  some 
of  the  Russian  ambassador's  luggage. 

There  were  three  gentlemen  and  some  servants.  The 
first  was  an  affable  little  man,very  talkative  and  animated, 
a  Secretary  of  Legation,  Count  Ramsay  de  Balmaine. 
The  second  was  a  Frenchman,  the  Marquis  de  Favars,  a 
blase  young  braggart ;  and  the  third  was  a  captain  in  the 
Russian  navy,  a  handsome  Greek,  who  unfortunately 
seemed  to  be  an  effeminate  fellow  of  the  worst  character. 
He  had  spent  the  last  few  years  in  Paris  attached  to  the 
Russian  ambassador.  Prince  Kurakin.  With  this  trio  I 
started,  after  some  hours,  on  my  journey. 

I  attached  myself  to  the  little  count,  and  after  we  had 
made  a  few  halts  at  posting-places,  I  was  satisfied  that  I 
had  made  the  best  choice.  The  little  man  afterwards 
became  famous  as  one  of  Napoleon's  companions  and 
guards  on  the  island  of  St.  Helena.  He  was  of  old 
Scottish  blood,  a  Catholic,  and  had  been  educated  by 
the  Jesuits  at  Mohilev  ;  not  wanting  in  talent  and  viva- 
city, and  possessing  a  great  deal  of  miscellaneous  infor- 
mation, but  with  an  endless  fund  of  absurd,  though 
good-humoured  small  talk. 

The  company  of  this  young  man  would  have  been 
very  burdensome  to  me  for  any  length  of  time.  How- 
ever, I  made  use  of  the  two  days  I  passed  in  his  com- 
pany to  extract  whatever  might  be  useful  to  me  out  of 
him.  I  led  him  into  descriptions  of  the  habits  and 
customs  of  the  district  of  Russia  in  which  he  had  lived 
most,  and  his  otherwise  too  fluent  conversation  became 
instructive  and  entertaining  to  me.     I  did  not  discover 

12 


i/S  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

in  him  much  that  was  soldierly  or  indeed  manly  ;  and  I 
was  rather  surprised  to  hear  that  his  brother  was  a 
major-general,  and  that  he  himself  was  about  to  buckle 
on  his  sword  in  defence  of  the  Fatherland.  Some  weeks 
afterwards,  indeed,  I  saw  his  name  in  the  papers  as 
colonel. 

We  travelled  through  Volhynia,  a  rich,  glorious 
country :  there  the  so-called  Red  Russians  dwell.  These 
people  seemed  to  me  more  earnest  and  thoughtful  than 
the  Poles,  among  whom  we  had  been  travelling  until 
now.  The  fields  and  the  dwellings,  as  we  journeyed  on, 
continued  to  improve  in  appearance,  and  to  grow 
cleaner,  till  they  were  almost  as  good  as  those  of  North 
Germany. 

The  people  had  a  fine  breed  of  horses,  and  the  fat 
pastures  were  full  of  cattle  of  a  silver-grey  colour — the 
same  kind  which  are  constantly  being  brought  by  thou- 
sands from  Hungary  to  Vienna.  They  were  great  bee- 
masters  too.  There  were  bee-hives  in  hollow  trees,  half 
as  high  again  as  a  man,  and  forest  trees,  whose  tops 
were  still  green,  bored  through  ten  or  fifteen  yards  above 
ground  and  peopled  with  bees,  and  closed  with  doors 
and  lids.  Here  and  there  stakes  were  planted  under  the 
trees,  for  the  purpose,  I  think,  of  spiking  any  bear  who 
might  attempt  to  climb  up. 

In  the  town  of  Zitomir  we  were  much  amused  by  an 
incident  we  witnessed.  We  were  dining  in  a  Jewish 
inn,  when  suddenly  there  arose  such  a  clashing  and 
jingling  of  instruments  all  playing  at  once,  and  such  a 
bustle  and  tumult  of  people,  that  we  ran  quickly  to  the 
window.     And  what  did  we  see  .'*      Truly  a  sight  for 


^T.  42.]  Jews.  lyc) 

gods  and  men.  A  magnificent  Jewish  wedding,  or 
rather  wedding-dance.  Round  the  market-place  of 
this  somewhat  dirty  town,  some  hundreds  of  Jews  were 
dancing — old  and  young,  men  and  women,  boys  and 
girls  —  round  and  round,  always  keeping  the  widest 
circle  which  the  surrounding  houses  would  permit,  with 
the  fiddles  and  bagpipes  in  front,  and  a  confused  surg- 
ing tumult  behind.  It  was  indeed  the  most  charming, 
natural  dance,  and  we  enjoyed  it  royally  !  Every  one  was 
bright  in  the  most  splendid  attire,  and  there  was  no 
want  of  pearls^  gold,  and  silver,  nor  indeed  of  beautiful 
forms. 

One  notices  at  once  that  the  Jews,  both  men  and 
women,  are  a  much  finer  race  in  Poland  than  in  Ger- 
many, and  that  their  manners  and  habits  are  much  more 
dignified  and  composed  than  those  of  our  restless, 
curious,  prying  Hebrews.  This  may  arise  from  the  fact 
that  the  Jews  here  in  many  places  live  together  in  great 
numbers,  and  also  that  many  of  them  are  employed  in 
the  quiet  and  innocent  work  of  agriculture  and  cattle- 
rearing. 

At  last  we  reached  Kief  on  the  Dnieper,  once  the 
great  capital  of  the  rising  Russian  empire,  and  still  dis- 
playing the  signs  of  past  splendour.  It  was  a  beautiful 
summer  morning  when  we  arrived,  and  we  as  strangers 
were  quite  astonished  with  the  distant  view  of  its 
strange  lustre.  To  me  it  was  a  first  glimpse  of  the 
East,  with  the  gold  glittering  on  the  cupolas  and  towers 
of  the  churches  and  convents,  and  even  on  the  roofs  of 
some  of  the  larger  houses.  Yet,  when  we  entered  the 
city,  its  many  wide,  empty  spaces  gave  me  the  impres- 

j  2 2 


i8o  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

sion  of  a  desolation,  a  beautiful  ruin  of  the  past.  In 
situation,  it  is  the  queen  of  cities,  lying  on  and  between 
the  stately  hills  of  the  Dnieper. 

We  put  up  again  at  a  respectable  Jewish  house,  where 
there  was  a  very  beautiful  family — a  mother  and  several 
daughters — who  made  us  say,  like  General  Holofernes 
of  old,  "  Truly  the  Hebrews  have  beautiful  women." 

The  country  beyond  Kief  is  still  a  rich  fruitful  land  ; 
but  not  to  be  compared  with  the  plains  we  had  seen 
before.  The  Jews  became  fewer  and  fewer,  though  there 
are  some  still  dwelling  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Dnieper. 

We  entered  Russia  Proper  :  everything  became  cleaner 
and  neater,  the  houses  better  built,  the  villages  better 
laid  out,  the  people  more  vigorous  in  appearance 
and  better  clothed.  Yet  we  had  some  very  hot  days, 
and  endured  a  torture  in  the  houses  which  we  had  not 
before  experienced  ;  though  no  mortal  in  Poland  can 
preserve  himself  from  certain  insects.  The  houses 
literally  swarmed  with  fleas,  not  indeed  of  the  large 
Italian  breed,  but,  in  spite  of  their  small  proportions, 
enough  to  drive  one  to  despair.  Indeed,  at  some  of  our 
halting-places,  we  picked  up  so  many  of  these  blood- 
thirsty little  beings,  that  we  were  forced  to  stop  at  the 
first  convenient  little  wood  we  came  to,  and  almost 
entirely  undress,  and  shake  our  clothes  in  the  wind  so  as 
to  send  the  little  multitude  out  into  the  wide  world  again. 

We  came  upon  villages  in  this  district,  inhabited  by 
Roskolniks,*  a  primitive  Russian  sect,  where  we  noticed 

*  Roskolniks  or  Raskolniks,  i.e.  heretics,  a  name  applied  to  all  dissenters 
from  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church. 


-ET.  4::.]  j\Iodc  of  Travelling.  l8l 

with  surprise  that  the  women  would  immediately  tear 
up  any  towel  with  which  we  had  dried  our  hands,  as 
they  considered  anything  unclean  which  had  been 
touched  by  one  of  a  different  faith.  A  vessel  out  of 
which  we  ate  with  a  spoon  and  did  not  touch  with  our 
hands,  they  did  not  look  upon  as  polluted. 

We  were  eye-witnesses,  about  this  time,  of  the  manner  in 
which  travellers,  escorted  by  soldiers,  conduct  themselves 
in  Russia;  howtheydoconductthemselves,thoughperhaps 
not  how  they  should.  If  the  horses  are  over-driven  or 
the  soldiers  do  not  think  them  strong  enough,  and  they 
happen  to  come  in  sight  of  a  troop  of  horses  feeding  not 
far  from  the  road,  they  fly  upon  them  like  arrows,  choose 
out  the  best,  unharness  the  tired  ones,  put  the  captured 
ones  in  their  places,  and  so  "  paschol  !"  (offj.  But  on 
several  occasions  I  noticed  that  the  keepers,  as  soon  as 
they  perceived  the  flying  postchaise  in  the  distance,  took 
to  flight  with  their  horses,  and  would  not  allow  them- 
selves to  be  caught  by  the  soldiers.  It  is  also  a  usual 
thing,  when  a  halt  is  made,  for  the  traveller  to  take  a 
scythe  and  cut  as  much  clover  and  oats  from  the  sur- 
rounding fields  as  he  needs  for  his  horses.  So  that  one 
is  constantly  reminded  of  descriptions  of  journeys  in 
iMoldavia  and  Wallachia. 

When  we  were  across  the  Dnieper,  the  others  had 
something  to  do  to  their  carriages,  and  I  went  on  alone, 
promising  to  order  tea  and  supper  at  the  next  post- 
station.  I  did  so,  but  my  rear-guard  did  not  come  up. 
I  began  to  think  that  one  of  the  carriages  must  have 
broken  down,  or  that  something  even  worse  must  have 
happened.     At  last  they  appeared,  driving  slowly,  and 


1 8 2  Life  of  A rndt.    .  [a .d.  1 8 1 2. 


got  out  still  more  leisurely,  separating  at  once.  Little 
Count  Ramsay  came  to  me,  looking  very  red  and  dis- 
turbed, as  if  some  great  misfortune  had  befallen  him,  and 
told  me  that  the  other  two  had  so  fallen  out  during  a 
conversation  about  Paris  and  the  French,  that  he  was 
afraid  of  a  sanguinary  result.  Indeed,  the  marquis  had 
spoken  of  balls  and  pistols  ;  he  did  not  know  how  to 
keep  the  wild  fellows  apart,  and  it  might  be  very  dan- 
gerous for  him — the  marquis,  being  a  special  protege  of 
the  Prince  de  Rohan,  a  general  in  the  Austrian  service, 
had  been  specially  commended  to  him.  The  family 
had  great  connections  also  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  if 
any  misfortune  befell  the  youth  he  should  be  blamed 
for  it. 

I  interrupted  him  by  bursting  into  a  laugh.  "  My  dear 
count,  don't  make  yourself  unhappy  with  such  gloomy 
ideas.  I  can  see  that  neither  of  these  are  fire-eaters  or 
fighting  men.  My  advice  is,  that  you  should  go  at  once 
and  put  before  them  that  this  is  the  most  capital  oppor- 
tunity for  settling  the  quarrel  with  swords  or  pistols  ; 
we  are  quite  alone,  here  is  a  nice  little  piece  of  shrubbery 
some  hundred  paces  from  the  post-house;  we  have 
weapons  and  ammunition  in  abundance,  and  they  can 
work  off  their  angry  feelings  most  conveniently  this 
beautiful  sunny  evening." 

At  first  he  would  not  agree  to  it,  but  at  last  he  con- 
sented to  lay  this  chivalrous  proposal  before  the 
marquis.  The  Frenchman,  making  a  foreign  caper, 
answered,  with  the  gentlest,  most  lamb-like  expression  of 
countenance,  "  Bah  !  a  Marquis  de  Favars  fight  with  a 
Greek  ! — that  would  be  too  ridiculous,  when  battle-fields 


JET.  4^.]  Preparations  for   War.  i8; 


are  open  to  us.  And  you  will  confess,  yourself,  count, 
that  it  was  child's  talk  over  which  we  quarrelled."  But 
he  said  that  he  should  be  glad  to  be  rid  of  his  Greek 
vis-a-vis  in  the  carriage — he  could  not  endure  an 
eternally  smiling  face. " 

So  we  arranged  that  I  should  take  the  Frenchman 
into  my  carriage,  so  as  to  separate  the  two  tame  turkey- 
cocks.  It  was  a  great  sacrifice  to  the  cause  of  peace. 
He  was  a  pour,  frivolous  lad  who  had  fled  from  France 
when  only  a  child,  when  his  father's  head  fell  by  the 
guillotine — one  of  the  first  victims  of  the  Revolution. 
He  was  possessed  with  a  real  demon  of  French  vivacity, 
and  filled  my  ears  with  the  mighty  deeds  he  was  about 
to  perform.  He  created  a  regiment  of  Cossacks  in  the 
carriage,  who  were  to  give  quarter  to  no  single  follower 
of  Napoleon,  etc.,  etc. 

More  enlivening  than  the  empty  bellicose  chatter  of  my 
magpie,  who  till  now  had  spent  his  life  in  hopping  about 
the  drawing-rooms  of  the  fair  Viennese,  was  the  tumult 
of  war  all  round  us,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  the 
tumult  which  betokened  a  warlike  spirit  and  warlike  pre- 
parations. Thousands  of  waggons  of  provisions,  recruits 
for  the  army,  tens  of  thousands  of  oxen  and  horses,  a  few 
companies  of  Uhlans  and  Cossacks,  convoys  of  prisoners 
on  foot  and  in  waggons — apparently  political  prisoners, 
not  prisoners  of  war — endless  watchfires  surrounded  by 
soldiers  and  peasants :  the  whole  country  seemed  in  a 
state  of  ferment  and  excitement,  occasionally  breaking 
out  into  dancing  and  singing. 

It  was  strange  and  amusing,  by  the  light  of  the  moon 
and  stars,  to  watch  masses  of  naked  men  round  the  fires 


1 84  Life  of  Arndt.  [a-d.  i8i: 


where  their  food  was  cooking,  shaking  their  shirts  and 
trousers  into  the  flames.  It  surprised  me  at  first,  but 
dire  necessity  soon  forced  us  to  do  the  same,  though  it 
made  one  feel  Hke  a  barbarian  and  a  Tartar.  Add  to 
this  my  tedious,  wearisome  companion,  the  heat,  the 
dust,  bad  food,  and  hours  of  waiting  for  horses— for 
there  was  an  unusual  number  of  travellers  on  this  road, 
and  we  always  needed  twelve  horses — and  the  shameless 
bloodthirstiness  of  the  Russian  flies,  not  forgetting  the 
gadflies  which  were  attracted  by  the  long  train  of  horses, 
— and  you  have  a  description  of  our  journey. 

I  have  complained  of  the  bad  food.  We  almost  always 
found  the  people  in  the  villages  friendly  and  ready  to 
help  us,  but  many  of  the  houses  had  been  already  cleared 
out,  and  the  last  fowl  plucked,  so  that  we  were  glad  if 
we  could  find  bread,  milk,  and  brandy.  Yet  in  many 
places  we  fared  very  well,  particularly  at  Tschernigov, 
and  nowhere  did  we  miss  the  northern  hospitality. 
Russian  merchants  in  the  little  towns  and  villages  forced 
us  to  come  into  their  houses,  and  fed  us  with  capital  tea 
and  bread  and  butter.  Russian  nobles  led  us  with  patri- 
archal hospitality  into  their  elegant  halls,  and  refreshed 
us  with  food  and  drink.  We  saw  no  more  Jews  in  the 
villages,  but  found  them  employed  about  the  coaches, 
in  the  conveyance  of  cattle,  and  at  the  post-houses, 
accompanying  foreigners,  German  and  English,  as  couriers 
and  interpreters  often  from  a  great  distance,  Pesth,  Jassy, 
or  even  Constantinople.  In  these  capacities  they  enter 
Russia,  where  they  may  not  reside,  and  generally  only 
stay  a  few  days.  It  is  remarkable  that  all  Polish  Jews 
understand  and  speak  German ;  we  may  thence  conjee- 


^T.  42.]  Russian  Postboys.  185 

ture  that  at  some  former  time  they  have  wandered  from 
the  west  of  Germany  into  Poland  and  Lithuania  and  the 
region  of  the  southern  Carpathians,  Their  integrity  and 
trustworthiness  in  all  affairs  in  which  they  are  employed 
is  generally  admitted.  I  was  much  amused  with  the 
cheerfulness  and  liveliness  of  the  Russian  drivers  and  post- 
boys. When  a  rough  soldier,  often  as  it  seemed  to  me 
without  the  least  cause,  let  fly  at  the  back  of  a  poor  wretch 
until  it  resounded  like  a  piece  of  wood,  he  would  shake 
it  off  as  a  duck  does  water,  swing  himself  on  to  his  little 
horse,  and  ride  away  singing,  whistling,  and  chattering, 
as  cheerfully  as  ever.  These  children  of  nature  seemed 
to  have  a  way  of  holding  conversations  with  their  horses, 
which  were  perfectly  intelligible  to  both  parties,  for  a 
horse  most  loosely  harnessed  and  guided  only  by  a  single 
rein  would  alter  his  course  immediately  at  a  sign,  word, 
or  whistle  from  his  driver.  I  also  noticed  the  great  ten- 
derness which  the  men  displayed  towards  their  animals, 
wild,  rough,  and  brutal  as  they  might  be  to  their  own 
species. 

A  great  part  of  my  journal  was  stolen  from  me,  with 
other  valuable  things,  on  my  return  home  through  Poland, 
and  I  cannot  remember  exactly  the  day  of  our  arrival  at 
the  famous  town  of  Smolensk ;  but  it  must  have  been 
somewhere  about  the  beginning  of  August.  It  was  a 
bright  morning ;  the  sun  was  already  hot,  and  we  were 
travelling  slowly  through  a  wild  throng  of  cuirassiers, 
Cossacks,  and  artillery,  being  often  obliged  to  halt  for 
five  or  ten  minutes  at  a  time,  and  being  powdered  and 
pomaded  with  the  most  fearful  dust.  Moser  says,  truly, 
that  dust  is  the  cosmetic  of  heroes. 


1 86  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

At  last  we  pressed  into  the  town  and  reached  the  hotel 
to  which  Ave  had  been  recommended,  some  hundred  yards 
from  the  gates,  kept  by  a  respectable  German-Italian, 
Simon  Giampa,  and  our  throats  and  stomachs  had  been 
looking  forward  to  this  happy  moment  ever  since  sunrise. 
We  fought  our  way  at  length  through  a  crowd  of  men  and 
horses  into  the  court-yard  of  Giampa's  inn.  There  I  found 
a  German  officer,  a  brave  Saxon  Major  von  Bose,  with 
whom  I  became  better  acquainted  afterwards  in  St. 
Petersburg.  He  was  sitting  on  a  flight  of  steps,  and 
when  we  called  for  bread  and  wine,  he  answered : 
"  Patience,  patience,  gentlemen !  I  have  sent  out  my 
servant,  and  have  been  baking  here  for  the  last  hour, 
vv-aiting  for  some  refreshment.  Unfortunately,  there  is 
nothing  to  be  got  here — neither  rooms  nor  food.  You 
see,  the  Uhlans  and  Cossacks  have  taken  possession  of 
the  whole  house  and  court-yard,  and  there  is  hardly 
room  left  for  a  mouse."  So  we  sat  down  patiently  by 
his  side,  our  little  count  running  out  and  returning  after 
an  hour's  absence  with  a  bottle  of  very  bad  Don  wine 
and  a  loaf,  saying  :  "  This  has  cost  a  ducat ;  let  us  divide 
it  among  us."  So  we  did,  together  with  a  bottle  of 
water,  which  we  obtained  besides,  and  shared  our  pro- 
visions with  the  Saxon.  It  was  not  till  nearly  dusk  that 
the  crowd  gradually  streamed  away,  and  we  succeeded 
in  getting  two  rooms  and  a  supper  of  roast  fowls.  It 
was  a  scene  of  war  ;  the  fields  all  round  were  one  great 
camp,  and  fresh  troops  were  daily  arrivmg,  for  Barclay 
de  Tolly  and  Prince  Bagration  had  combined  their 
forces. 

My  fortunate  star,  however,  shone  upon  me  even  here. 


JET.  42. ]  Rjissian   Troops.  1S7 


There  were  many  German  officers  in  the  town,  some 
having  posts  in  the  Prussian  army,  and  others  hoping  to 
share  in  the  struggle,  Saxons,  Austrians,  and  Prussians, 
who  were  eager  to  try  their  weapons  against  the  French. 
I  soon  met  old  acquaintances  :  Count  Chazot ;  the  brave 
Leo  Liitzow,  from  the^ Spanish  war ;  my  countryman,  Gus- 
tav  Barnekow,  of  Rugen,  and  others.  In  this  place,  where 
scarcely  anything  could  be  procured  for  money,  Chazot 
took  care  that  I  had  my  share  of  the  bounties  of  nature. 
He  was  Adjutant-General  of  the  brigade  of  the  elder 
Prince  of  Oldenburg,  now  the  reigning  duke,  and  dined 
daily  at  the  table  of  the  general  of  the  division,  Duke 
Alexander  of  Wurtemberg.  He  took  me  with  him  to 
this  great  dinner-table,  and  twice  at  night  I  shared  his 
straw  in  the  great  hall,  where  fifty  other  officers  lay 
snoring  together  on  the  ground. 

The  four  or  five  days  passed  here  in  all  the  excite- 
ment of  a  martial  life,  were  exceedingly  edifying  and 
entertaining  to  me.  Specimens  of  all  the  various  and 
widely  different  Russian  races  passed  before  me — those 
from  the  Frozen  Sea  and  from  the  Ural,  those  who 
watered  their  horses  in  the  Volga  and  the  Black  Sea; 
handsome  Tartars  from  the  Kabarda  and  from  the 
Crimea  ;  stately  Cossacks  from  the  Don  ;  Kalmucks 
with  flat  noses,  wooden  bodies,  and  crooked  eyes  and 
legs,  such  as  Ammian  paints  his  Huns  fifteen  hundred 
years  ago  ;  and  ugly,  deceitful-looking  Bashkirs,  with 
bows  and  arrows.  But  the  finest  of  all  was  a  squadron 
of  Tcherkess  horse,  in  breast-plates  and  helmets,  with 
waving  plumes  ;  fine,  well-formed  men,  with  the  most 
beautiful  horses. 


1 88  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

I  travelled  to  Moscow  with  a  young  German  officer 
belonging  to  the  Russo-German  Legion,  who  had  been 
sent  into  the  camp,  and  wished  to  return  to  St.  Peters- 
burg. I  was  accompanied  part  of  the  way  by  Colonel 
von  Tettenborn,*  whom  I  met  in  Wiasma  the  day  after  I 
left  Smolensk.  Some  members  of  the  Imperial  Cabinet 
were  in  that  place — Count  Nesselrode,  Herr  von  An- 
stedten,  and  others — and  we  dined  together  at  the  house 
of  the  President  of  Police  in  an  immense  hall  which 
would  have  seated  a  couple  of  hundred  guests. 

Almost  the  whole  nobility  of  the  neighbourhood  had 
assembled  ;  and  thousands  of  young  peasants,  recruits 
for  the  army,  were  encamped  round  the  town,  still  ac- 
companied by  their  mothers,  sisters,  and  sweethearts. 
The  place  was  also  thronged  with  waggons,  carrying  the 
wounded  into  the  interior.  Many  officers  in  the  same 
plight  used  to  dine  with  us  at  the  table. 

There  was  much  enthusiasm  and  rejoicing,  and  the 
cup  went  merrily  round  ;  and  when  we  rose  from  table 
the  strangers  too,  of  whom  it  was  known  that  they  ha^l 
not  come  to  Russia  as  followers  of  Napoleon,  received 

*  Frederick  Karl,  Baron  von  Tettenborn,  born  1778,  the  son  of  an 
officer  in  the  service  of  the  Margrave  of  Baden,  began  life  as  page  to  the 
Elector  of  Mainz.  In  1794  he  entered  the  Austrian  army,  in  which  he 
served  for  many  years.  He  narrowly  escaped  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
Fi-ench  at  the  surrender  of  Ulm  by  Mack,  and  afterwards  distinguished 
himself  at  Wagram.  In  1812,  quitting  Austria,  he  entered  the  Russian 
service,  and  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  Cossack  cavalry,  followed  the  French 
retreat,  driving  them  from  point  to  point  to  the  Beresina.  Supported  only 
by  one  company  of  infantry  he  captured  Wilna,  and  pushed  on  to  Berlin. 
Clearing  Pomerania  and  Mecklenburg  of  the  French,  he  proceeded  to 
deliver  Hamburg  from  the  foreign  yoke,  and  rendered  important  service 
with  the  light  cavalry  to  the  end  of  the  war.  In  1818  he  left  the  Russian 
service  and  entered  that  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden.  He  died  in  1845  at 
Vienna. 


^-T-  4--]  Popular  Enthusiasm.  189 

their  recompense — embraces,  warm  pressures  of  the 
hand,  and  kisses  from  beautiful  women  and  girls  who 
loved  their  fatherland.  The  whole  people  were  moved 
to  enthusiasm  and  deep  emotion,  even  the  very  lowest, 
whom  the  foreigners  stigmatised  as  slaves.  And  it  was 
not  a  forced  or  artificial  enthusiasm.  It  welled  up 
from  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  heart,  like  the  gush  of  a 
fountain. 

We  left  again  on  the  morrow,  stopping  some  hours  in 
the  middle  of  the  day  at  the  clean  little  town  of  Gschat ; 
the  colonel  being  obliged  to  have  his  carriage  made  water- 
tight. I  went  out  of  the  town  into  a  green  meadow,  where 
flocks  were  feeding  as  peacefully  as  if  there  were  no  such 
thing  as  war,  and  stretched  myself  on  the  ground  by  a 
haystack  ;  a  shady  birch  waved  over  me,  and  I  was  gazing 
dreamily  out  into  space,  or  rather  at  the  clouds,  which 
were  passing  over  my  head,  when  suddenly  I  heard  the 
sound  of  music,  coming  nearer  and  nearer,  and  a  long 
line  of  waggons  passed  by  full  of  Landwehr,  accom- 
panied by  their  parents,  sisters,  and  sweethearts,  while 
pipes  and  fiddles  were  playing  in  front  of  the  march. 
So  merrily  they  went  to  war  and  death,  as  if  it  were 
nothing  but  a  fantastic  wedding  dream,  full  of  flowers 
and  music. 

Here  I  parted  from  my  colonel.  He  went  straight 
from  Gschat  to  St.  Petersburg,  while  I  and  the  young 
officer  travelled  in  a  little  Russian  telegga,  by  a  circuitous 
route,  to  Moscow.  I  only  spent  two  days  in  this  wonder- 
ful city.  It  seemed  to  me  like  seeing  Asia,  Poverty 
and  splendour,  huts  and  hovels,  and  barns  and  stables, 
not  only  in  the  suburbs  but  right  in  the  middle  of  the 


IQO 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a-d-  1S12. 


town,  and  among  them  splendid  palaces  and  beautiful 
gardens ;  churches  and  convents,  with  gilded  cupolas 
and  towers  ;  and  the  Kremlin,  with  its  golden  gates  and 
pinnacles  ;  and  then,  in  that  strange  time  of  excitement, 
the  unusual  stir  and  throng  in  the  streets.  Two  days 
was    not  time  enough  to  see  anything.     I    could  only 

wonder. 

In  this  place,  too,  I  met  with  a  friendly  reception,  at 
first  from  the  Commandant  of  the  Kremlin,  General 
Hess,  a  German,  who  appeared  to  have  lost  nothing 
from  his  life  in  Russia  of  his  German  straightforward- 
ness and  good-nature.  After  he  had  examined  our 
•  passports,  he  entertained  us  both  at  a  pretty  little 
breakfast,  and  after^vards  took  us  in  his  carriage  to  the 
governor's   house,  as   he   was   obliged    to   see   him    on 

business. 

Thus  we  saw  General  Count  Rostopchin,  "^  the 
o-overnor,  who  only  a  month  after  became  so  famous  at 
the  burning  of  the  capital.  I  had,  in  truth,  seen  him 
already  at  Smolensk  in  the  person  of  a  wounded  major 
who  lay  with  his  knee  bound  up  on  a  sofa  in  the  next 
room  to  ours  at  Giampa's  hotel,  and  used  to  assemble 
us  round  him  at  tea  in  the  evening.  There  was  the 
same  countenance,  the  same  eyes,  the  same  brow,  the 

*  Feodor  Count  Rostopchin,  bom  of  an  old  family,  1760,  rose  to  dis- 
tinction by  tlie  favour  of  tlie  two  Romanzoffs,  and  at  the  beginning  of  tlie 
rei<ni  of  Paul  I.,  was  overwhelmed  with  honours  and  distinctions  by  that 
IcinCT.  Afterwards  he  fell  into  disgrace  and  was  dismissed.  Alexander,  on 
his  accession,  made  him  Governor  of  Moscow.  He  himself  denied  having 
ordered  the  conflagi-ation,  but  at  any  rate  he  set  the  example  by  burning 
down  the  magazine  and  his  own  house  in  1826.  He  accompanied  Alex- 
ander to  the  Congi-ess  of  Vienna,  and  died  in  1826  at  Moscow.  He  is  de- 
scribed as  a  man  of  a  peculiarly  amiable  disposition. 


^T.  42.]  Rostopchin.  191 

same  downright,  yet  kindly,  bluntness;  the  same  middle- 
sized  athletic  frame,  short  broad  face,  short  regular  nose, 
large  blue  eyes,  and  quick  movements. 

Such  was  Rostopchin,  and  such  were  many  other 
Russian  officers  whom  I  met  afterwards  in  different 
places.  They  all  belonged  to  the  same  type,  which  is 
probably  no  longer  to  be  found  in  the  present  great 
families,  who  are  too  much  Europeanised,  refined  and 
polished,  or  rather  polished  away.  It  may  still  be  found 
among  the  lower  nobility.  We  were  invited  to  his  table, 
and  were  present  at  a  great  ceremony,  a  Te  Deum,  in 
the  church  of  St.  John,  in  the  Kremlin,  for  a  victory  of 
Wittgenstein  over  Marshal  Oudinot. 

The  way  from  thence  to  St.  Petersburg  passes  through 
Twer  and  Novgorod  —  the  country  between  Moscow 
and  Twer  being  fine,  rich,  and  well  cultivated.  I  saw 
several  large  villages  with  neat  cottages,  several  of  two 
stories,  with  bright  windows  and  painted  fronts,  and  de- 
corated v/itli  some  good  carving  and  plenty  of  bright 
flowers  inside  and  out.  The  houses  were  built  almost 
entirely  of  wood.  I  was  here  reminded  of  Helsingland, 
Dalarne,  and  Norrland  in  Sweden,  where  the  peasants 
ornament  their  carts  and  the  harness  of  their  horses,  and 
even  their  houses  and  churches  with  the  same  kind  of 
skilful  carving. 

In  the  erection  and  arrangement  of  many  of  the 
villages  I  was  inclined  to  think  they  must  have  had  the 
advice  of  Hippocrates,  or  Dr.  Faust  of  Biickeburg, 
concerning  sun,  air,  and  water,  in  their  minds.  Some 
villages  are  regularly  built  in  a  circle,  but  most  of  them 
in  a  half-circle,  described  from  south-east  to  south-west, 


192 


Life  cf  Arndt.  [a-d.  181 2. 


and  thus  receiving  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  and  the  least  possible  of  the  north  and 
north-east  winds.  Just  in  the  same  way  you  find  many 
farms  in  Sweden  built  in  a  half-circle.  What  a  difference 
in  this,  and  many  other  respects,  between  the  Russian 
peasants  and  the  unhappy  Poles. 

In  the  villages  and  all  along  the  roads  there  was  still 
the  same  crowd  of  armed  men.  We  also  met  some 
miserable  groups  of  prisoners,  among  whom  were  some 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese.  The  days  were  very  hot,  on 
account  of  the  short  northern  nights.  One  does  not 
suffer  quite  so  much  from  vermin  in  Russia  as  in  Poland, 
but  the  armies  of  barbarous  inhuman  black  hoppers  are 
not  greatly  diminished.  To  escape  these  I  avoided  the 
houses  as  much  as  possible,  and  if  I  had  to  wait  a  couple 
of  hours  for  horses,  which,  however,  did  not  often  occur 
between  Twer  and  St.  Petersburg,  I  used  to  wrap  myself 
up  in  my  cloak,  and  lie  down  under  the  ieiegga,  if  it  hap- 
pened to  be  raining,  with  my  valuables  under  my  head, 
hum  to  myself,  "  Hoc  tibi  proderit  olim,"  and  sleep  like 
a  king. 

I  had  no  ser\^ant  with  me,  and  therefore  had  to  look 
after  everything  myself  I  had  already  had  two  intima- 
tions of  the  care  that  was  necessary.  First  at  Smolensk, 
at  Giampa's,  where  many  things  w^ere  pilfered  from  us 
owing  to  the  carelessness  of  the  servants,  and  where  I 
was  greatly  alarmed  at  missing  my  purse,  containing 
several  hundred  ducats,  which  however,  fortunately,  I 
found  I  had  hidden,  as  if  by  instinct,  in  my  bed  ; 
secondly,  in  Wiasma,  where  several  things  vanished 
actually  in  the  middle  of  dinner  in  the  ver>-  dining-room 


JET.  42.]  To  Sf.  Petersburg.  193 

of  the  President  of  Police  himself.  In  this  respect 
Russia  is  like  Arabia,  and  the  common  Russians  like  the 
Arabs,  ^/wVi!^  in  the  tent  and  taking  in  the  road. 

At  length  we  entered  the  famous  Novgorod,  of  which 
the  Hanseatic  proverb  used  to  say,  "  Who  will  fight 
against  God  and  Novgorod  !  But  this  Novgorod,  as  it 
is  now,  did  not  make  such  a  very  great  impression  upon 
me,  though  in  some  of  its  churches,  and  in  the  circum- 
ference of  its  walls,  it  bears  some  traces  of  its  former 
greatness,  and  may  be  compared  with  Kief  Ivan  Vasili- 
vitch,  the  Terrible,  trampled  under  his  iron  heel  the 
freedom  and  independence  of  this  splendid  city  and 
its  proud  citizens,  transported  many  thousands  of  its 
brave  inhabitants  to  the  south  of  the  empire,  and  re- 
placed them  by  others  accustomed  to  blind  obedience. 

The  fourth  day  after  my  departure  from  Moscow,  I 
passed  rapidly  by  pleasant  Tsarsko-Selo,  and  then,  be- 
fore my  admiring  eyes  appeared  the  river  Neva,  and  the 
new  Palmyra  on  its  shores.     Thus  I  had  made  more 
than  one  hundred   German  miles   in   four   days.     The 
whole  road  from  Twer  to  St.  Petersburg  is  extremely 
monotonous,  the  country  being  nothing  but  a  flat  plain, 
full  of  swamps  and  moors,  with  little  groups  of  pine  and 
birch  trees,  but  few  villages,  and  here  and  there  a  solitary 
neat  post-house,  or  an  inn,  general  I}'-  kept  by  an  Italian, 
The  road  was  in  most  places  tolerable,  like  a  high-road  in 
the  great  empire.     There  were  none  of  the  Mecklenburg, 
Holstein,  or  Belgian  stone  causeways,  but  plenty  of  log 
roads,  some  of  which  might  have  been  called  trunk  roads, 
and  which,  made  of  whole  pine  trees  laid  together,  are 
carried  over  the  swamps  and  morasses.     The  ground  un- 

13 


194 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a--d-  1812. 


derneath  them  being  hollow  and  marshy,  trembles 
under  the  wheels  as  they  pass  over.  And  over  this  shaky 
road  I  travelled  on  the  telcgga,  a  little  low  carriage  on 
four  wheels,  in  which  every  jolt  is  felt.  My  ribs  were  the 
worse  for  this  soldier-like  journey,  during  the  four  days 
md  nights  of  which  scarcely  a  wink  of  sleep  refreshed 
my  eyes.  It  was  not  merely  the  crowds  of  people  and 
the  trembling  of  the  road  which  kept  me  awake ;  it  was 
partly  my  own  uneasiness,  which  made  me  guard  my 
property  like  a  fairy  dog  set  to  watch  an  enchanted 
treasure,  so  that  I  might  not  be  plundered  of  all  my 
possessions  before  I  reached  St.  Petersburg. 

I  have  called  this  journey  a  soldier-like  one,  thinking 
not  of  what  soldiers  are,  but  of  what  they  should  be.  As 
for  my  two  military  companions,  both  brave,  active  men. 
Count  Tettenborn  and  the  German  officer,  I  found  them, 
the  day  after  my  arrival  in  the  capital,  both  stretched  on 
their  beds,  and  very  much  out  of  sorts,  while  I  was  still  on 
my  legs,  and  said  to  myself,  "  Please  God,  you  will  hold 
out  for  a  few  years  yet." 

During  my  Russian  night  journey  I  made  an  observa- 
tion which  amuses  me  still  when  I  think  of  it.  It  was 
only  a  recurrence  of  a  sensation  which  I  had  experienced 
in  similar  nights,  never  in  Germany  but  often  in  Sweden, 
when  my  senses  were  over-excited  through  wakefulness. 
I  think  it  was  partly  caused  by  the  strange  lights  and 
shadows  of  the  northern  nights,  whose  starlight  and 
moonlight  is  quite  different  from  that  of  Germany,  and 
has  a  magic  proper  to  itself.  Anyhow,  the  trees,  the 
rocks,  the  houses  and  other  lifeless  forms,  seemed 
suddenly  to  come  to  life  and  to  spring  forward  as  we 


^T.  42.]  Northern  Moonlight.  1 95 

passed,  like  magic  monsters.  I  do  not  know  whether 
this  effect  is  produced  by  the  action  of  outward  objects 
upon  the  mind^  or  of  the  mind  upon  outward  objects. 
About  this  philosophers  will  probably  dispute  till  the 
end  of  time,  but  the  fact  remains  the  same,  and  in  my 
opinion  it  accounts  for  much  of  the  belief  in  super- 
natural appearances  in  Sweden,  and  also  for  Sweden- 
borg's  spiritualism. 


o— - 


»  n 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LIFE   IN   ST.   PETERSBURG. 

Stein,  and  his  influence  in  St.  Petersburg. — The  burning  of  INIoscow. — 
Arndt's  positiojr  and  employments.  —  A  rare  bird.  • —  The  Russian 
character. 

I  ENTERED  St.  Petersburg  at  the  end  of  August,  1812, 
and  went  at  once  to  the  chateau  of  the  Minister  Vom 
Stein.*  The  chateau  bore  the  nameof  Demuth,  after  the 
name  of  the  host  of  the  inn  where  the  Minister  had 
lived  for  some  months,  and  whence  he  had  removed  to 
this  palatial  building,  at  a  short  distance. 

I  found  rooms  allotted  to  me  in  the  Demuth,  and 
immediately  engaged  a  German  servant,  a  native  of 
Esthonia,  it  being  impossible  to  do  without  one  here.  I 
had  a  fixed  position  under  the  Minister,  being  at  the 
same  time  in  the  Russian  service,  and  receiving  my 
salary  from  that  Government.  This  continued  even 
when  I  was  resident  in   Prussia.      Later,  of  course,  it 

*  Karl  Heinrich  Friedrich,  Baron  vom  Stein,  the  great  Prussian  Minister, 
born  at  Nassau,  1757.  He  entered  the  Prussian  service  in  1780,  and  occu- 
pied various  posts,  but  finding  himself  thwarted  in  his  plans,  retired  in  1 807. 
After  the  peace  of  Tilsit,  recalled  by  the  King,  he  issued  his  famous  edicts, 
remodelling  the  constitution.  Outlawed  by  Napoleon,  he  entered  the 
Russian  service,  and  was  at  the  head  of  the  Central  Commission  for  the 
management  of  German  affairs  during  1813-14.  From  that  time  he  re- 
tired into  private  life  until  his  death  in  1S31. 


^i-  42.]  Stein. 


197 


was  paid  by  the  Central  Administration  for  Germany. 
Even  the  money  I  had  spent  during  my  adventurous 
journey  from  Prague  to  St.  Petersburg  was  made  good 
to  me. 

Thus  I  was  estabhshed  in  a  position  neither  unworthy 
nor  distasteful.  And  here  I  may  say  ended  my  youth, 
which  I  may  observe  had  been  an  uncommonly  long 
one.  They  say  youth  is  fortunate  ;  and  certainly  I  was 
fortunate  in  both  my  flights, — first  when  I  stepped  into 
Schubert's  place  in  Sweden,  and  next  at  St.  Petersburg. 

I  had  never  heard  the  name  of  Herr  vom  Stein  before 
the  year  1807.  In  180S,  it  was  known  throughout 
Europe,  by  the  laws  and  institutions  which  he  called  into 
existence  to  revive  and  re-establish  the  fallen  Prussian 
kingdom.  And  in  the  year  1809  Napoleon's  proscrip- 
tion pointed  him  out  as  the  guiding  star  of  the  German 
Fatherland. 

This  great  man  heard  of  me,  and  invited  me  to  come 
to  him.  Fate  and  inclination  alike  drove  me  to  Russia, 
and  by  his  means  I  obtained  a  safe  and  honourable 
position  there.  God  opened  a  way  for  me  then,  or 
rather,  He  smoothed  the  path  before  me.  Later,  He 
seemed  to  close  it.     Such  are  His  mysterious  decrees. 

I  arrived  on,  I  think,  the  26th  or  27th  of  August,  and 
paid  my  respects  at  once  to  the  Minister,  whom  I  was 
able  to  supply  with  information  from  Prague.  I  was 
received  very  kindly  by  him.  His  form  and  appearance 
struck  me  as  similar  to  one  I  had  seen  before,  but  at 
first  I  could  not  remember  where ;  and  it  was  not  till 
some  hours  afterwards,  when  I  was  sitting  with  him  at  the 
tea-table  and  my  first  impressions  grew  clearer,  that  I  said 


198  Life  of  Arndt.  [a-d.  1812. 

to  myself,  "  Fichte."  And,  indeed,  in  many  things  he 
resembled  Fichte — the  same  figure,  short  and  broad  ; 
the  same  forehead,  only  wider  and  more  retreating  ;  the 
same  small,  keen,  sparkling  eyes,  and  a  very  similar, 
only  more  strongly  marked,  nose.  And  his  words, 
downright,  clear,  firm  ;  going  straight  to  the  mark  like 
arrows  from  the  bow.  The  Fichte-like,  inflexible,  moral 
severity  of  his  principles,  I  was  soon  forced  to  admire. 
The  dift'erence  between  them  lay  in  the  fact  that  Stein 
was  a  baron  of  the  Empire,  and  came  of  an  old  family 
on  the  Rhine,  and  Fichte  was  the  son  of  a  poor  weaver 
of  Lusatia  ;  and  that  the  baron  struggled  steadily  up 
through  the  shadows  and  mists  of  the  not  I  to  the  /, 
while  the  philosopher  was  ever  vainly  seeking  to  descend 
from  the  heights  of  the  /  to  the  shadows  and  mists  of 
the  not  I,  hoping  by  that  means  to  grasp  it. 

This  was  my  first  passing  impression.  I  will  describe 
this  great  and  good  man  shortly,  such  as  he  appeared  to 
me  then  and  in  after  years. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  two  distinct  natures  represented  in 
Blucher's  face.  Perhaps  this  is  true  of  most  countenances, 
and  you  may  discern  in  some  three,  four,  or  even  more  ; 
but  when  there  are  so  many,  they  cannot  be  called 
natures,  but  rather  passions  at  war,  destroying  and 
counteracting  one  another.  The  upper  part  of  Stein's 
face  was  the  continual  abode  of  bright  and  peaceful 
divinities.  His  grand,  massive  forehead,  his  thoughtful, 
kindly  eyes,  and  large  nose  betokened  calmness,  deep 
thought  and  the  power  of  ruling.  But  the  lower  part  of 
the  face  was  in  striking  contrast.  The  mouth  was  obvi- 
ously too  small  and  too  finely  cut,  and  the  chin  too  deli- 


^T.  42.]  Stein.  199 

cate  for  the  strength  of  the  upper  part  of  the  face. 
There  ordinary  mortality  dwelt,  and  it  was  capable  of 
expressing  anger  and  passion,  sometimes  in  the  most 
violent  bursts,  which,  thank  God,  if  met  with  firmness, 
soon  passed  over.  But  even  when  this  weaker  lower 
portion  of  the  face  was  convulsed  with  anger,  and  the 
small  mobile  mouth  was  pouring  forth  invectives  with 
inconceivable  rapidity,  the  upper  part  still  wore  an 
Olympian  calm,  and  the  sparkling  eyes  even  did  not 
threaten,  so  that  any  one  alarmed  by  the  one  might  be 
reassured  by  the  other. 

Honesty,  courage,  and  goodness  spoke  in  all  the 
features,  words,  and  gestures  of  this  great  man.  He 
was  a  ruling  spirit,  born  to  be  a  king — in  fact,  a  number 
one.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  a  man  cannot  be  an 
excellent  man  and  do  a  great  work  as  number  tv/o — 
that  is  self-evident — but  Stein  was  not  one  of  those.  He 
had  too  strong  an  individuality,  and  his  nature  was 
formed  of  such  stubborn  material  that  it  would  not  be 
welded  easily  into  another,  far  less  yield  to  another,  as 
the  noblest  minds  have  had  to  do  for  great  objects. 

I  do  not  know  in  what  way,  or  for  what  particular 
cause,  Herr  vom  Stein  had  ccme  to  St.  Petersburg,  but 
it  was  on  a  written  invitation  from  the  Emperor,  as  he 
has  often  told  me.  Others  have  told  me  that  the 
Emperor,  when  on  the  brink  of  a  great  danger,  remem- 
bered some  prophetical  words  which  the  Minister  had 
spoken  at  Tilsit  in  the  summer  of  1807,  and  that  he 
mentioned  them  when  he  wrote  to  summon  him.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  Herr  vom  Stein  had  no  struggle  here, 
for  he  always  went  right  on  and   left  the  rest  to   God. 


200 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  iSi: 


But  Alexander  was  forced  to  fight  his  way  very  slowly. 
This  ruler  was  capable  of  very  great  and  noble  im- 
pulses ;  but  there  was  a  weak  spot  in  his  nature  which 
deprived  him  of  perseverance  and  manly  firmness. 

War  was  declared  with  Napoleon,  and  the  first  san- 
guinary engagements  had  taken  place.  But  Romanzoff 
was  still  at  the  helm,  and  had  driven  the  deserving 
IMinister  of  the  Interior,  Speranski,  and  Privy  Coun- 
cillor Beck  into  prison  and  exile,  because  they  counselled 
bolder  and  more  rapid  measures. 

I  had  formed  an  acquaintance  with  a  German,  Dr. 
Trinius,  a  native  of  IMansfeld,  physician  to  the  Duke 
Alexander  of  Wiirtemberg,  who  was  a  useful  friend  and 
companion  to  me  during  my  life  at  St.  Petersburg. 
Just  at  the  time  when  the  Minister  vom  Stein  and  the 
Russian  Emperor's  change  of  views  v.-ere  beginning  to 
shake  Romanzoff's  system,  Trinius  took  me  with  him 
on  a  visit  of  condolence  to  the  wife  and  children  of  a 
friend.  Her  husband  had  suddenl}-  disappeared,  and 
it  v.as  whispered  that  he  had  been  carried  off  to  Siberia. 
This  friend  of  Trinius  was  Privy  Councillor  Beck,  an 
honest  Thuringian,  who  had  come  to  Livonia  as  a  youth 
in  the  capacity  of  Utschitel,  or  tutor^  in  the  family  of  a 
Count  von  Pahlen,  and  now,  under  Romanzoff,  was  at 
the  head  of  the  secret  department  of  foreign  affairs. 
As  he  was  leaving  the  Imperial  Palace,  with  his  port- 
folio under  his  arm,  he  was  seized  and  carried  off ;  not 
indeed  to  Siberia,  but  to  the  Citadel  of  the  Neva,  which 
in  a  straight  line  was  only  about  five  hundred  paces  from 
his  own  house  and  garden.  His  wife  and  children 
mourned    for    him    as    if    he    were    already  travelling 


^T.  42.]  Romanzojf.  201 


through  the  icy  deserts  of  the  Obi  and  Yenesei.  He 
remained  in  the  citadel  about  six  weeks,  and  then  one 
day  suddenly  reappeared  among  his  friends.  Naturally, 
after  the  Russian  fashion,  there  was  no  inquiry  nor 
explanation  respecting  his  imprisonment.  He  entered 
upon  his  office  again,  and,  if  I  remember  right,  his 
salary  was  increased  by  five  hundred  silver  roubles,  as 
an  indemnification.  I  often  saw  him,  and  he  visited  me 
twice  afterwards  in  Bonn. 

Romanzofif*  was  known  as  the  soul  of  the  disgraceful 
Napoleonic  league  against  Spain,  England,  and  Austria, 
which  had  been  in  existence  only  too  long.  He,  mise- 
rably effeminate  in  manners  and  habits,  belonged  to  the 
weak-minded  class  vdio  saw  in  Napoleon  the  instrument 
of  the  Almighty,  whom  no  earthly  power  could  over- 
throw. Therefore  he  always  counselled  peace  and  sub- 
mission. The  Emperor  Alexander  had  not  the  courage 
to  break  loose  at  once  from  the  old  man,  though  Stein 
represented  honestly  and  faithfully,  both  in  writing  and 
speaking,  how  this  course  of  action  must  injure  him  in 
the  opinion  of  England,  Austria,  and  Prussia,  and  all 
those  who  might  combine  in  shaking  off  the  yoke  of  the 

*  Nicholas,  Count  Romanzoff,  the  Chancellor,  born  1753,  was  the  son 
of  the  great  general,  and  became  Russian  Ambassador  at  Frankfort  in 
1785,  and  after  holding  other  minor  offices,  was  made  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  in  1807.  He  headed  the  French  party  in  Russia,  until  he  resigned  his 
post  to  Nesselrode,  when  he  retired  into  private  life,  and  devoted  himself  to 
literary  and  scientific  pursuits.  He  fitted  out  the  ship  Rurikau,  in  which 
Otto  von  Kotzebue  sailed  round  the  world  ;  and  printed  at  his  own  expense 
the  Codex  Diplomaticus,  and  an  edition  of  Russian  chronicles,  for  which  he 
made  a  journey  into  the  provinces  of  the  interior  in  1817.  He  also  founded 
some  model  schools  on  his  own  estates  under  the  superintendence  of  an 
Englishman.     He  died  at  St.  Petersburg,  1826. 


202  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S12. 

Corsican.     I  have  had  to  copy  letters  which  he  wrote  to 
the  Emperor,  that  the  copies  might  be  sent  to  London 
and  Vienna,  in  which  in  his  usual  terse  and  clear  manner 
he  described  the  position  of  things,  and  the  uselessness, 
and  worse  than  uselessness  of  this  characterless  sensual 
man,  with  his  soft  step  and  honied  mien.     In  this  way 
he  produced  some  impression   upon   the   Emperor,  but 
probably  he  worked  upon  him  more  effectually  through 
the  society  of  St.  Petersburg,  over  which  he  had  obtained 
great  influence.      His  courage  and  boldness,   and  still 
more  his  wit  and  amiability,  were  felt  and  acknowledged 
everywhere,   and    they    shone,  and    kindled    into    flame 
wherever  there  was    anything   to    kindle.      The    moral 
beauty  and  purity  of  his  nature  and  his  innate  courage, 
the  kindliness  and  amiability  which   made   him  such  a 
pleasant  companion  at  table,  when  he  was  glad  to  unbend 
and  join  in  lively  chat,  soon  made  him  a  power  in  Russian 
society.     Anecdotes  of  his  sayings  and  doings  and  hon 
mots  attributed  to  him  were  constantly  in   circulation. 
He  soon  had  a  very  considerable  following,  which  was 
devotedly  attached  to  him,  as  it  was  well  known  that  he 
was  only  there  on  a  pilgrimage,  and  would  travel  back 
to  the  West  as  soon  as  victory  was  won.     At  length  he 
became  the  conscience  of  St.  Petersburg,  always  prompt- 
ing to  honour  and  justice,  and  the  Orloffs,  Soltikows, 
Ouwarows,  Kotschubeys,  Lievens,  and  a  crowd  of  beau- 
tiful and  intellectual  women,  so  powerful  to  animate  and 
inspire,  drew  together  under  his  standard. 

Thus  he  became  the  invincible  prince  and  leader  of  the 
war-party.  When  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Borodino  and 
the  burning  of  Moscow  arrived,  and  Czar  Constantine  was 


^T.  42.]  The  Burning  of  Moscow,  203 


raving  "  Peace,  peace !"  which  was  echoed  in  a  whisper  by 
the  Empress-mother  and  Romanzoff,  he  only  held  him- 
self the  more  proudly  and  cheerfully  erect.  I  myself  saw 
him  at  that  time.  The  day  after  the  news  of  the  con- 
flagration arrived,  I  was  with  him  at  dinner,  together 
with  the  gallant  Dornberg  and  several  other  brave 
Germans,  I  never  saw  him  more  splendid.  He  bade 
us  nil  our  glasses,  and  said  :  "  In  the  journey  of  life,  I 
have  already  three  or  four  times  lost  all  my  luggage. 
One  must  accustom  one's  self  to  think  little  of  such  things. 
As  we  must  die,  let  us  be  brave." 

The  battle  on  the  Moskwa,  or  at  Borodino,  on  the  7th 
of  September,  the  entry  of  the  French  into  the  old 
capital  on  the  14th,  and  its  burning  on  the  15th  and 
i6th,  caused  great  agitation  in  St.  Petersburg,  the 
first  great  ebullition  of  feeling  in  the  course  of  this 
campaign,  people  of  the  most  opposite  views  and 
opinions  being  alike  carried  away  in  the  great  wave  of 
excitement,  till  at  last  a  spirit  of  patient  enduring 
courage  took  possession  of  both  Emperor  and  people, 
like  the  setting  in  of  a  hard  bright  frost.  Even  in  that 
city  opinions  were  at  first  divided  as  to  whether  it  was 
the  French  or  General  Rostopchin  who  was  responsible 
for  the  burning  of  Moscow.  Those  who  knew  the  man 
said  Rostopchin,  but  most  people  denounced  the  deed  as 
an  act  of  atrocious  cruelty.  However,  when  the  French 
began  to  execrate  it,  and  to  represent  Rostopchin  as  a 
detestable  barbarian,  the  Russians  turned  round  and  dis- 
covered for  the  first  time  what  glory  for  the  people  and 
what  ruin  for  the  enemy  would  spring  from  the  flames 
of  that  sacrifice.     Rostopchin  became  at  once  the  great 


204  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

Russian  hero,  and  stones  began  to  be  circulated  of  the 
great  preparations  for  the  conflagration,  which  certainly  he 
had  never  made  or  even  thought  of.  People  were  told  of 
a  huge  infernal  machine,  a  shell  spitting  out  fire  and  balls, 
which  Rostopchin  had  had  prepared  by  several  skilled 
artificers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Moscow,  and  which  it 
was  intended  to  throw  into  the  middle  of  the  French 
army,  a  story  which  was  repeated  in  the  French  journals. 

Rostopchin  was  a  genuine  Russian,  understanding  his 
countrymen  and  knowing  how  to  speak  to  them.  All 
his  proclamations  and  manifestoes  in  Moscow  testify  to 
this,  and  he  could  exhibit  the  most  desperate  courage 
on  occasions.  He  had  formerly  been  Adjutant-General 
to  the  Emperor  Paul,  and  this  Czar  was  safe  in  all  his 
strongholds  as  long  as  he  was  defended  by  his  tried 
bravery.  It  was  not  till  Rostopchin  had,  much  against 
his  will,  been  promoted  to  a  distant  post,  far  from  St. 
Petersburg,  through  the  machinations  of  those  who  were 
conspiring  in  secret  that  they  ventured  to  take  the  last  step. 

The  burning  of  ^Moscow  was  fatal  to  this  campaign  of 
Napoleon.  What  misery  the  flames  of  the  burning  city 
brought  upon  the  French,  may  be  seen  from  a  passage 
in  the  Jow'ual  de  V Empire  of  that  date.   It  is  as  follows  : 

"If  one  had  ever  had  a  doubt  of  the  barbarous  nature 
of  the  Russians,  their  conduct  in  their  own  country  must 
convince  us  more  clearly  than  anything  which  could  be 
written  concerning  their  habits  and  manners.  Defeated 
by  our  arms,  they  revenged  themselves  by  burning  down 
the  towns  they  could  not  defend.  Women,  children, 
aged  people,  and  even  their  own  v/ounded  fell  victims  to 
their  senseless  rage  and  barbarous  pride.     We  must  pur- 


JET.  42.]        T/i^  FrcncJi  on  the  Burning  of  LIoscow.       205 

sue  them  now  to  defend  them  from  their  own  rage,  and 
those  in  whom  a  few  disorders  in  ihe  heat  of  victory 
might  have  been  pardoned,  are  employed  in  saving  the 
people  from  the  excesses  of  that  army  which  ought  to 
have   defended    it.     What   would    become    of  civilised 
Europe  if  these  hordes  of  devastators  could  sweep  over 
it  ?   The  ruins  of  Rome  and  Italy  are  a  sufficient  answer. 
The  barbarians  of  to-day  are  the  same  as  the  barbarians 
of  former  ages.     If  there  ever  was  a  popular  Avar,  it  is 
indisputably  that  which  has  for  its  object  the  destruction 
of  this   bloodthirsty  Colossus,  who  has  been  advancing 
against   us   for  hundreds   of  years,  clanking  the  chains 
with  which  he  threatens  Europe,  and  waving  the  torches 
with  which  he  intends  to  light  its  destruction.     At  the 
siege  of  Vienna  Europe  was  protected  from  the  irruption 
of  the  barbarians,  but  there  was  no  security  for  its  peace. 
It  was  necessary  that  a  mighty  genius  should  arise,  who, 
at  the  head  of  all  the  martial  power  of  the  civilised  world, 
should  penetrate  to  the  centre  of  barbarism,  and  give  it 
its  death-blow.    This  is  the  great  picture  which  is  unroll- 
ing itself  before  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  world,  and  of 
W'hich  the  capture  of  Moscow  forms  one  of  the  principal 
objects.     Onev/ould  have  thought  that  the  enemy  would 
have  spared  his  old  capital,  and  especially  as,  according 
to  trustworthy  letters,  the  Russian  commander  had  sent 
a  flag  of  truce  to  the  French  headquarters  to  beg  the 
mercy  of  the  victors  for  Moscow.     But  so  great  is  the 
confusion  reigning  in  Russia,  that  a  governor  ventures 
on  his  own  authority  to  organise  bands  of  robbers  and 
murderers,  and  hopes  to  be  able  to  defend  with  a  hand- 
ful of  criminals  a  town  which  a  whole  army  had  not 


2o6  L  ife  of  A  rndt  [a.d.  1 8 1 : 


been  able  to  hold.  Never  did  the  most  infatuated 
cruelty  imagine  a  more  horrible  deed.  The  name  of  the 
man  who  committed  it  must  ever  remain  the  execration 
of  his  contemporaries  and  the  abhorrence  of  posterity. 
Moreover,  in  spite  of  the  detestable  caution  of  the 
governor  in  spreading  the  fire  and  continuing  the 
destruction,  it  is  hoped  that  several  quarters  which  were 
cut  off  by  large  fields  will  be  spared.  According  to 
a  letter  we  have  before  us,  large  stores  of  rice, 
brandy,  and  flour  have  been  saved,  and  more  is  being 
constantly  discovered.  The  retreat  of  the  Russians  was 
so  precipitate  that  they  did  not  even  give  themselves 
time  to  spike  a  large  number  of  guns  lying  in  the 
arsenal.  But  it  was  horrible,  and  enough  even  to  make 
cannibals  shudder,  that  the  Tartar  who  was  governor  in 
Moscow  set  fire  first  to  the  quarters  in  which  the 
hospitals  were  situated,  and  thirty  thousand  (?)  sick  and 
wounded,  who  had  escaped  death  in  the  battle  of  Septem- 
ber 7,  were  forced  to  meet  it  in  the  flames  lighted  by  their 
own  countrymen.  Can  madmen  who  burn  their  own 
countrymen  be  called  a  nation  }  No  !  Europe  will  give 
them  up  to  the  contempt  of  all  civilised  people,  and  will 
call  down  upon  them  the  curses  of  the  centuries  to  come." 

So  bitterly  did  the  French  feel  that  the  sun  of  Auster- 
litz  was  extinguished  in  the  smoke  of  those  flam.es.  It 
had  risen  again  brightly  on  the  field  of  Borodino  ;  as 
Napoleon  said  to  his  soldiers,  "  It  is  the  sun  of  Auster- 
litz!"    "The  army  accepted  the  omen,  and  beat  to  arms." 

But  the  Emperor  Alexander  had  not  courage  enough 
either  to  acknowledge  or  disavow  the  great  deed  by 
which  so  much   property   had    been   destroyed,   which 


^T.  42.]  Position  at  St.  Petersbitrg.  207 

would  otherwise  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  the  French. 
So  that  the  deed  of  General  Rostopchui  was  never 
ratified,  and  he  himself  soon  after  left  the  country  in  a 
kind  of  disgrace.  But  it  was  equal  to  Numantia  and 
Saragossa — and  no  Frenchman  can  hear  the  name  of 
Saragossa  unmoved — and  yet,  in  the  flames  of  IMoscow 
shine  the  lights  of  ten  Saragossas.  And  Europe 
breathed  no  curse  upon  the  deed,  but  stood  silent  in 
dread  amaze  before  an  act  of  which  it  could  not  compre- 
hend the  vastness. 

My  position  here  was  that  of  a  writer,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Stein's  great  name  and  ready  to  his  hand, 
or,  to  use  more  dignified  language,  I  was  a  German 
author,  who,  aware  that  there  were  some  places  in 
Europe  where  his  head  would  not  be  safe  from  the  claws 
of  the  great  "roc"  of  the  day,  had  made  the  journey  to 
St.  Petersburg,  whither  the  IMinister  Stein  had  been 
drawn  by  similar  motives.  Here  he  was  fully  occupied 
in  hurrying  through  the  press  various  writings  ;  some 
written  on  his  own  impulse,  and  some  directly  ordered 
by  the  Cabinet :  little  pamphlets,  proclamations,  mani- 
festoes, answers  and  refutations  of  Napoleonic  and 
French  accounts  and  proclamations ;  some  cut  and  mea- 
sured in  the  Russian  style  and  Russian  way  of  speaking; 
but  most  from  the  German,  may  I  say,  the  Stein,  point 
of  view. 

They  were  occasionally  printed  in  German,  and 
distributed  everywhere,  sometimes  sent  out  of  the 
country ;  sometimes  also  a  French  translation  of  them 
was  circulated.  They  were  blown  about  like  scattered 
sparks,  and  we  hoped  that  they  might  light  upon  some 


2o8  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

heart  here  and  there  and  kindle  a  fire  in  it  as  in  a 
powder  magazine,  from  which  the  conflagration  might 
spread  further. 

Stein,  in  announcing  his  arrival  to  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
says,  "  Herr  Arndt  must  immediately  be  employed  in  composing 
songs  and  writings,  which  may  be  distributed  among  the  Ger- 
mans, to  correct  their  ideas  ;  he  will  be  attached  to  the  German 
legion  that,  by  his  wriungs  and  all  the  resources  of  popular  elo- 
quence, he  may  inspire  them  with  enthusiasm,  and  such  a  spirit 
of  devotion  as  we  have  witnessed  in  the  corps  of  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  and  Schill." 

It  seems  that  the  second  part  of  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Age," 
which  was  written  in  Sweden,  and  had  been  published  there  and 
in  London,  in  1808,  was  now  re-issued,  and  under  Gruner's 
direction  secretly  distributed  in  all  parts  of  Germany.  The 
most  important  book  that  he  wrote  in  Russia  was  his  "  Cate- 
chism for  the  German  warrior  and  defender  of  his  country, 
(Katechismus  fiir  den  Deutschen  Kriegs-  und  Wehrmann),  in 
which  is  taught  what  a  Christian  defender  should  be,  and  how 
he  should  go  into  the  struggle,  with  God."  The  book  became 
extremely  popular,  and  was  republished  with  additions  many 
times. 

In  this  writing  business  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  any 
members  of  the  Russian  Cabinet.  Only  at  last  I  was 
caught  by  an  old  Russian,  who,  after  the  fall  of  the 
Minister  Speranski,  was  for  a  time  a  kind  of  Minister  of 
the  Interior.  His  name  was,  if  I  write  it  correctly. 
Admiral    Schischkow.*     He  Avas  a  fine  old  man,  and 

*  Alexander  SchischkofF,  bom  1754,  entered  the  navy  very  young,  but 
applied  himself  ardently  to  scientific  study,  and  whilst  a  mere  naval  cadet 
published  three  volumes  of  poems.  In  1812  he  became  Secretary  of  State, 
and  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war  published  a  volume  of  his  manifestoes, 
proclamations,  etc.,  which  has  been  admired  for  its  style.  He  was  after- 
wards ^linister  of  Education,  and  died  in  1S2S.  Among  his  other  pub- 
lications are  a  prose  translation  of  Tasso,  and  an  edition  of  the  oldest 
Russian  poem. 


^T.  42.]  Admiral  ScJiiscJikoff.  209 

possessed  the  genuine  Russian  talent  for  mimicry  and 
pantomime,  and  at  the  critical  time  of  the  autumn  of 
1812  was  always  more  ready  for  jokes  and  laughter  than 
for  lamentations  and  forebodings.  He  had  been  told 
that  I  was  a  good  war-trumpet,  and  had  read  some  of 
my  trifles,  partly  in  German,  which  he  scarcely  under- 
stood at  all,  and  partly  in  their  French  translations. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  when  he  wished  to  issue 
any  proclamation  or  intimation  to  the  Russian  people, 
with  reference  to  the  war  or  the  enemy,  he  called  me  in 
to  help.  I  soon  grew  to  like  the  genuine  old  Muscovite, 
with  his  spirited,  faithful,  patriotic  courage,  and  we 
often  had  very  amusing  conversations  ;  although,  when 
he  sometimes  kept  me  too  long,  I  grew  impatient.  As 
he  knew  little  German,  and  I  no  Russian,  and  we  neither 
of  us  had  a  large  stock  of  French,  particularly  of  the 
higher  and  finer  diplomatic  part  of  the  language,  we 
often  beat  about  for  hours  together  before  we  could  find 
the  right  word.  For  the  old  man  liked  to  hurl  strong, 
emphatic  language  at  Napoleon. 

My  brains  and  my  pen  were  not  at  the  service  of  any 
others.  But  at  Stein's  command  I  often  had  to  look 
through  papers  and  essays  of  other  people,  and  com- 
municate his  and  my  comments  on  them  to  the  authors. 
Most  of  these  pamphlets,  as  far  as  I  remember,  came 
from  the  pens  of  younger  men,  who  after  the  resignation 
of  Romanzoff  worked  with  and  for  Stein.  Two  of  these 
I  often  met  in  society,  as  well  as  in  Stein's  cabinet ;  and 
Stein  would  sometimes  ask  for  my  observations  and 
criticisms  on  their  papers,  but  I  never  wrote  or  com- 
posed anything  in  conjunction  with  them. 

14 


2IO 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 


Both  were  Germans,  as  was  evident  in  their  writings 
and  in  their  manners,  and  their  works  were  often  given 
me  to  estimate  and  judge.     They  were  Von  Anstett,  a 
native  of  Alsace,  and  Count  Nesselrode,*  also  from  the 
Rhine,  but  from  the  Lower  Rhine,  north  of  Cologne  and 
Bonn.     The  first,  a  fine,  well-built,  jovial  man,  half  a 
Frenchman  ;  the  second,  a  more  refined,  delicate  young 
man,  very  youthful  in  appearance,  a  scion  of  a  family 
which  had  long  been  friendly   to  the  house  of   Stein, 
whose  ancestors  had  often  tilted  with  Stein's  ancestors 
on  the  heights  of  the  Westerwald,  or  on  the  fields  of 
Wetterau,    and  in  the   Imperial  cities   of  Wetzlar  and 
Limburg.     However,    Nesselrode's   father   had  died  in 
embarrassed  circumstances  at  St.  Petersburg,  leaving  one 
son,  a  helpless  child,  behind  him.     The  great  Catherine 
took  him  up,  and  he  was  sent  to  Berlin  to  be  educated, 
and  afterwards  the  Cabinet  found  him  a  useful  tool.    He 
now  seemed  to  be  studying  diplomacy.     In  contrast  to 
Stein's  impetuous  strength,  he  showed  too  smooth  and 
pliant  a  nature,  which  the  strong  man  used  to  attribute 
to  mere  weakness,  or,  worse  still,  to  underhand  cunning. 


*  The  Chancellor,  Count  Nesselrode,  bom  at  Lisbon,  1780,  and  edu- 
cated under  the  patronage  of  Catherine  II.,  at  the  Military  College  of  St. 
Petersburg,  was  attached  to  the  embassy  at  Berlin,  and  afterwards  at 
Stuttgart,  but  it  was  while  at  Paris  in  1807  that  he  earned  the  favour  of  the 
Emperor  Alexander.  From  that  time  he  took  part  in  all  great  events  and 
signed  the  alliances  and  treaties  of  Kalisch,  Reichenbach,  the  Quadruple 
Alliance  of  Chaumont,  the  treaty  for  the  surrender  of  Paris.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Congi-ess  of  Vienna,  and  in  March, 
181 5,  joined  in  the  famous  declaration  of  the  allies  against  Napoleon. 
Nicholas  also  gave  him  his  confidence  and  made  him  Chancellor  in  1844. 
He  is  supposed  to  have  inclined  to  peace  in  1854,  but  continued  in  office 
until  the  conclusion  of  the  Crimean  war.  Retiring  from  public  affairs  in 
1856,  he  died  in  1862. 


^T.  42.]  The  Gerj)ian  Legion.  •     211 

Such  were  my  little  political  connections  in  the 
summer  and  autumn  ;  but  I  then  drew  much  closer  to 
Stein  himself,  in  v/hose  hands  was  the  chief  part  of  the 
correspondence  with  England  and  Germany;  particularly 
with  Count  Miinster,  who  was  then  the  agent  for  Anglo- 
Hanoverian  and  German  affairs  in  London.  The 
English  correspondence  was  the  heaviest  for  me,  and  I 
often  bewildered  myself  over  the  ordering  and  arrang- 
ing of  letters  and  papers  which  I  had  to  seal  and  deliver 
in  person,  for  security's  sake,  into  the  hand  of  the 
English  Ambassador,  Lord  Cathcart. 

o 

Many   German   officers,  and  these  not   of  the   most 
ordinary  type,  had  stolen  away  from  their  own  country 
and  Sfone  to  the  East.     There  was  a  dim  conviction  in 
the  minds  of  these  men  that  God  would  sooner  or  later 
overthrow  the  prosperity  of  a  man  whose  power,  through 
skill  and  cunning  and  force  of  arms,  had  been  raised  to 
such  a  pitch  that  common,  weak,  and  cowardly  minds 
bent    before   it   as   before   an    irresistible   fate.      They 
thought  they  could  already  see  the  beginning  of  the 
downfall    in   the    events    in    Spain.      Napoleon,    whose 
pride   and   thirst   for   empire   had    suffered    cruelly   in 
the  modern  Iberia,  would  finally  succumb    in  Scythia. 
These    voluntary  exiles,  who  were  for   the    most  part 
Prussians  —  brave,  loyal  men  —  considered    that   they 
were   not    fighting    against    their   master,   but    on    his 
side.      They    felt    it  hard  indeed     that    their   courage 
could    only    find   an    outlet   in    a   strange   land,     and 
not  in  their  own.     But  they  knew  that  their  king's  case 
was  a  thousand  times  harder,  in  that  he  was  forced  to 
act  as  the  friend  and  ally  of  a  man  who  had  dishonoured 

U— 2 


212  Life  of  Arndf.  [a.d.  1S12. 

his  country,  and  who  cast  to  the  winds  all  promises  and 
treaties  like  cobwebs,  just  as  seemed  convenient  to  him 
at  the  moment. 

They  did  not  lie  on  roses,  certainly,  in  this  land  of 
strangers,  for  a  man  of  honour  cannot  but  suffer  when 
he  comes  among  foreigners  as  a  fugitive.  Two  thousand 
five  hundred  years  ago  Callinus  sang,  "  Envy,  hatred, 
and  spite  will  follow  him  wherever  he  goes  !" 

j\Iany  of  these  exiles  were  engaged  in  the  army, 
others  were  in  St.  Petersburg,  employed  in  forming  a 
German  Legion  out  of  German  prisoners,  deserters,  and 
volunteers,  whose  swords  were  to  be  employed  in  turning 
back  the  tide  of  war  towards  the  West. 

The  reigning  Duke  of  Oldenburg,  himself  a  fugitive, 
Count  Lieven,  formerly  ambassador  in  Berlin,  and  the 
Minister  vom  Stein,  though  men  most  unlike  each  other 
in  every  way,  took  the  lead  in  the  formation  of  this 
corps.  Their  dissimilarities  in  character  gave  rise  to 
many  petty  quarrels.  The  duke,  a  most  worthy  and 
excellent  prince,  was  ceremonious,  cold  and  deliberate, 
and  certainly  did  not  possess  the  necessary  warlike 
enthusiasm.  The  more  rapid  Stein  was  in  despair 
whenever  he  had  to  speak  or  consult  with  him  about 
anything.  He  used  to  say,  "  He  is  like  the  old  German 
Imperial  law  processes,  and  lectures  me  for  hours  to- 
gether, stans  pede  in  tmo."  When  I  first  went  to  pay  my 
respects  to  the  duke,  he  warned  m.e  to  let  him  talk  on 
quietly,  saying  that  he  would  probably  give  me  a  dis- 
course on  the  history  of  the  empire  and  the  princes. 
And  so  he  did. 

Lieven  was  easy  to  work  with,  and  readily  subordi- 


yET.  42.]  Count  and  Countess  Lieven.  213 

nated  himself  to  the  superior  activity  and  stronger  will 
of  Stein.  He  had  just  come  from  Berlin,  where  he  had 
been  Russian  ambassador.  He  was  Avell-meaning  and 
friendly  to  the  good  cause,  but  a  man  of  no  force  of 
character.  Yet  he  had  a  man  behind  him,  and  this  man 
was  the  power  in  the  house,  and  was  called  Countess 
Lieven.*  She  was  of  the  noble  Courland  family  of  Ben- 
kendorf,  and  Avas  a  genuine,  lively^  impressionable 
Curldnderin,  having  all  the  lithe  and  flexible  grace  which 
distinguishes  the  German  nobility  of  Courland^  and, 
though  past  the  first  bloom  of  youth,  full  of  a  natural 
charm,  and  easy  unaffected  vivacity.  They  both  re- 
ceived me  very  kindly.  I  had  made  their  acquaintance 
in  Berlin,  and  had  been  invited  to  their  house  there 
several  times,  and  had  obtained  my  passport  for  Russia 
from  him.  In  the  subsequent  fetes  and  rejoicings  for 
victory  at  St.  Petersburg,  amid  the  universal  joy  which 
broke  down  all  barriers  of  rank  and  sex  in  the  capital,  I 
was  honoured  with  many  an  embrace  and  warm  pressure 
of  the  hand  by  the  beautiful  Curlanderin.  Even  in  her 
old  age  Countess  Lieven  was  a  brilliant  and  active  diplo- 
matic figure  in  the  drawing-rooms  of  London  and  Paris. 
I  was  sometimes  employed  in  the  matters  connected 
with  the  Legion,  having  now  and  then  to  carry  on  nego- 

*  Dorothee,  Countess,  afterwards  Princess  Lieven,  nee  Benkendorf, 
born  1784,  was  brought  up  at  St.  Petersburg,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Empress  Marie,  wife  of  Paul  I.,  and  married  by  her  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
to  Count  Lieven.  She  accompanied  her  husband  to  Berlin,  where  he 
was  ambassador,  and  about  1812  to  London.  She  made  herself  a  great 
reputation  for  talent  wherever. she  resided,  and  took  a  very  active  part  in 
political  affairs.  After  her  husband's  death  she  settled  in  Paris,  and  it  is 
said  the  chief  business  of  the  Russian  embassy  was  conducted  in  her  house. 
She  had  correspondents  in  all  parts  of  Europe,  and  forwarded  the  infoima- 
tion  she  received  from  them  to  the  Czar,  or  to  her  brother,  the  Minister  of 
Police,  in  St.  Petersburg.     She  died  in  1S57. 


214  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 


tiations  between  certain  officers  and  my  master.  The 
poor  officers  were  driven  almost  to  despair  by  the  duke's 
slow,  pedantic  manner.  The  most  fiery  were  often  ready 
to  refuse  to  have  any  more  to  do  with  the  plan,  propos- 
ing rather  to  join  the  Russian  army,  although  it  would  not 
have  been  easy  for  them  to  obtain  employment  in  it 
worthy  of  them,  for  the  Russians,  as  soon  as  things 
began  to  look  brighter,  displayed  unbearable  pride  and 
contempt  for  strangers.  It  was  a  very  hard  trial  of 
patience  to  many  most  excellent  men.  But  they  were 
allowed,  in  18 13,  to  use  their  swords  for  their  country. 

Among  all  these  different  annoyances  and  vexations, 
there  was  still  a  good  deal  of  real,  heroic  pleasure,  which 
does  not  come  to  those  whose  sleep  is  never  disturbed  by 
the  tumult  of  war.  What  hours  I  have  passed  with  you, 
heroic  souls,  of  whom  so  many  already  look  down  from 
above  on  the  battlefields  of  those  days !  There  were 
Dornberg,  Clausewitz,^  Goltz,  the  Counts  Friedrich  and 
Helvetius  zu  Dohna,  besides  some  notable  passing 
visitors— Boyen,-|-    Adolf  Lutzow,J  etc. ;  and  there  were 

*  Karl  von  Clausewitz,  boi^n  1780,  entered  the  army  when  scarcely 
twelve  years  old,  and  served  in  the  campaigns  of  1793-94.  In  the 
military  school  of  Berlin  he  attracted  the  attention  of  Scharnliorst, 
and  was  employed  by  him  until  18 12,  when  he  entered  the  Russian 
army,  in  which  he  served  uring  1813  and  1S14.  In  1815  he  returned 
to  the  Prussian  service,  and  was  made  director  of  the  military  scliool, 
1818.  He  died  of  cholera,  1831.  He  published  a  review  of  the  cam- 
paign of  1813,  and  his  other  writings  produced  most  important  changes  in 
the  management  of  military  affairs. 

t  Hermann  von  Boyen,  born  1771,  was  a  member  of  Scharnhorst's 
commission  for  reorganising  the  army,  and  fought  in  the  War  of  Liberation. 
After  the  peace  he  was  made  Minister  of  War,  but  being  discontented  with 
the  acts  of  the  government  resigned  his  post  in  1819.  Frederick  William 
IV.,  on  his  accession,  made  him  a  general,  and  he  returned  to  the  head  of 
the  war  department. 

X  Ludwig  Adolf  Wilhelm,  Baron  von  Liitzow,  one  of  Schill's  officers, 


^T.  42.]  Friends  in  St.  Petersburg.  215 

jubilant  meetings  when  hearts  grew  warm  and  cups  went 
round,  especially  after  the  flames  of  Moscow  had  kindled 
boundless  hopes. 

Such  was  the  circle  in  which  I  ordinarily  moved.  But 
there  was  another  about  which  I  must  not  be  silent,  and 
in  which  I  found  considerable  pleasure.  There  were  in 
St.  Petersburg  some  large  houses  of  business,  the  heads 
of  which  were  countrymen  of  mine,  and  I  soon  found 
myself  at  home  there,  and  in  several  other  houses  of 
German  learned  men  and  professors.  The  hospitality  of 
the  North  reigned  supreme  here.  I  found  also  some  old 
Swedish  acquaintances,  and  among  them,  General  Count 
Armfeldtj^J'  at  that  time  Governor  of  Finland.  It  was 
impossible  to  escape  from  invitations  and  banquets.  It 
was  a  nocturnal  life,  as  is  inevitable  so  far  north,  and 
especially  in  large  cities.  No  one  ever  left  a  party  be- 
fore midnight,  and   often  not  until  two  or  three  o'clock, 


was  authorised,  to  form  a  partizan  corps  in  1S13.     Llitzow's  Black  Jiigers 
soon  made    themselves   famous,  but   they  were    nearly   destroyed  by   a 
treachei-ous  attack  of  the  French  and  Wllrtembergers  during  the  armistice, 
1813.     Liitzow  himself  was  made  prisoner  in  France  in  1814.     He  was 
present  ar  Ligny,  and  attained  the  rank  of  major-general  in  1822. 

*  Gustav  Moritz  von  Arrafeldt  sprang  from  one  of  the  most  powerful 
families  of  Finland,  and  by  his  great  beauty  and  shining  talents  won  the 
favour  of  Gustavus  III.  He  was  appointed  by  him,  on  his  death,  a  member 
of  the  Regency,  but  finding  himself  in  danger  from  the  jealousy  of  the  Duke 
of  Sudermania,  he  escaped,  and  after  wandering  about  in  Germany  in  dis- 
^ise,  found  an  asylum  in  Russia.  Recalled  by  Gustavus  IV.,  he  commanded 
in  Pomerania  and  elsewhere,  but  fell  into  disfavour  with  the  Iving,  and  on 
the  accession  of  Charles  XIII.  he  returned  to  Russia,  of  which  he  was  now 
the  subject,  Finland  having  been  annexed  by  Russia.  From  the  first  he 
was  a  steadfast  opponent  of  Napoleon.  Alexander  honoured  and  employed 
him,  until  his  death  in  1814.  He  is  said  to  have  been  able  to  speak  and 
write  almost  all  the  languages  of  Europe. 


2i6  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d,  1812. 

and  no  one  was  expected  to  see  visitors  before  twelve 
o'clock  in  the  morning. 

Among  many  other  men  of  note  I  became  acquainted 
with  Schubert*  the  astronomer,  Klinger  the  poet,  and 
Krusenstern,  who  had  sailed  round  the  world,  all  three 
Germans,  though  Krusenstern  sprang  from  a  Swedish 
stock.  I  was  introduced  to  Schubert  as  to  a  fellow- 
countryman.  He  was  a  tall,  handsome,  and  intellectual 
man,  but  eaten  up  with  pride.  He  was  also  a  worshipper 
of  Napoleon,  and  could  not  be  brought  to  believe  that 
any  attempt  against  him  could  succeed  ;  a  cold-hearted 
scoffer  and  disbeliever  in  humanity,  making  intellect  and 
success  his  idols.  Perhaps  he  had  learnt  this  in  Russia, 
though  probably  his  natural  disposition  inclined  him 
that  way.  He  gave  me  this  piece  of  advice  :  "  Man  is 
born  to  be  a  slave  and  beast  of  burden — in  this  country 
he  is  a  specially  vicious  one.  Accustom  yourself  to 
appear  harsh  and  haughty,  and  then  you  may  pass  for 
somebody."  Such  offensive  maxims  might  have  been 
useful  to  some  characters  elsewhere.  I  paid  two  visits 
to  this  imperious  and  aristocratic  man  of  letters,  and 
that  was  all. 

Klinger-j-  was  a  tall,  powerful  man,  with  hair  as  white 

*  Fiiedrich  Theodor  Schubert,  bom  1758,  studied  at  Greifswald  and 
Gottingen,  and  was  summoned  to  the  Imperial  Academy  at  St.  Petersburg, 
1785.  He  was  sent  as  head  of  the  scientific  department,  with  a  Russian 
embassy,  to  China,  but  it  was  unable  to  proceed  beyond  Kiakhta.  On  his 
return  he  received  an  appointment  under  the  Government,  and  devoted 
himself  unweariedly  to  scientific  studies  until  his  death  in  1825. 

+  Friedrich  Maximilian  von  Klinger,  the  dramatist,  was  the  son  of  a 
citizen  of  Frankfort,  and  was  born  in  1753.  To  please  his  father  he  went 
to  study  theology  at  Giessen,  but  an  enthusiastic  admiration  for  Shakespeare 
soon  diverted  him  from  that  study,  and  he  obtained  employment  in  writing 


MT.  42.]  Klino;er  and  Kriisenstcrn.  2 1 7 


as  snow,  an  iron  constitution,  a  lofty  and  piercing  glance, 
and  a  mighty  voice.  But  this  simple  Frankfort  man 
had  also  changed  into  a  polished,  reserved,  hard  man  of 
the  world.  Trouble  fell  upon  him.  He  lost  his  only  son, 
an  officer  in  the  Russian  army,  in  the  battle  of  Borodino, 
and  the  blow  crushed  him. 

Krusenstern*  was  quite  of  a  different  sort.  Though 
a  native  of  the  rough  northern  coasts  of  Esthonia, 
he  was  the  kindest,  most  unassuming,  and  amiable  of 
men,  one  whose  companionship  seemed  to  do  every 
one  good,  carrying  about  with  him  the  homely 
simplicity  of  the  sailor,  but  nothing  of  the  roughness 
of  the  rough  element  with  which  he  had  to  struggle. 
But  my  favourite  was  Dr.  Trinius,  a  poet,  botanist,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  most  warm-hearted  man.  He  was 
physician  to  the  Duchess  Alexander  of  Wurtemberg,  a 
princess  of  Saxe-Coburg.  At  his  house  assembled 
nightly    the  best  and  pleasantest   part    of  the    learned 

for  the  stage.  /  A  fit  of  military  enthusiasm  then  seizing  him,  he  joined  an 
Austrian  partizan  corps  in  the  war  of  the  Bavarian  succession.  For  some 
time  he  resided  at  Weimar,  and  then  proceeded  to  Russia,  where  Catherine 
II.  ennobled  him,  and  made  him  tutor  to  the  Grand  Duke  Paul,  whom  he 
accompanied  on  a  journey  through  a  great  part  of  Europe.  A  favourite  of 
the  Emperor  Paul  to  his  death,  he  was  honoured  by  his  successor  Alexander, 
who  made  him  general,  and  appointed  him  to  several  posts  of  importance . 
His  wife  is  said  to  have  wept  herself  blind  for  the  loss  of  her  son  at  Borodino. 
He  died  in  1831. 

*  Adam  Johann  Krusenstern,  born  in  1770,  served  first  in  the  British  fleet. 
Alexander  entrusted  him  with  the  charge  of  an  expedition  sent  out  with  the 
double  object  of  re-opening  trade  with  Japan,  and  exploring  the  Russian 
possessions  in  America.  The  expedition  was  a  very  successful  one. 
Besides  some  important  scientific  discoveries,  he  explored  the  west  coast 
of  Jesso,  the  island  of  Saghalien,  and  the  Kuriles,  etc.,  and  returned  to 
Cronstadt  in  1806,  after  three  years'  absence,  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
man.  In  1S15  he  was  employed  in  a  new  expedition  to  discover  the  North- 
West  Passage. 


2i8  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

society  of  St.  Petersburg.  There  was  plenty  of  gaiety, 
and  at  the  same  time  an  overflowing  sympathy  for 
the  great  cause  of  the  deliverance  of  Germany  and 
Europe. 

I  was  introduced  to  Trinius'  patroness,  both  by  him- 
self and  by  Herr  vom   Stein.     She  was  a  magnificent 
woman,  stately  and  beautiful  like  all  her  race,  and  a  true 
daughter  of  Germany  in  her  lofty  courage.     She  was  an 
enthusiastic  partizan  of  Stein,  and  the  old  man  used  to 
sit  enjoying  himself  at  her  tea-table,  while  a  crowd  of 
lesser  people  sat  around.     The  noble  princess  assembled 
round  her  all  the  scattered  hopes  of  Germany,  and  being 
the  most  intimate  friend  of  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  was 
Stein's   standard-bearer   at    Court.     It   often  happened 
that  when  some  famous  lion  was  coming  to  visit  her,  she 
would  exclude  all  the  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  the  Court 
and  send  private  notice  to  the  Empress,  who  would  come 
incognita  by  some  side  way,  and,  concealing  herself  be- 
hind one  of  her  maids  of  honour,  would  enjoy  herself  like 
an  ordinary  mortal. 

On  one  occasion  this  led  to  an  amusing  catastrophe. 
At  that  time  people  of  all  nations  and  languages  resorted 
to  St.  Petersburg,  and  among  them  came  some  Tyrolese, 
lately  returned  from  England.  One  of  them  was  Franz 
Fidelis  Jubile,  a  handsome  man  of  forty,  a  native  of 
Vorarlberg,  and  a  perfect  picture  of  a  fine  free  German. 
He  stayed  some  months  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  became 
the  centre  of  attraction  in  society,  where  he  would  relate 
his  adventures  and  sufferings  in  the  Tyrolese  wars,  and 
his  interviews  with  the  Emperor  Francis  and  the  Prince 
Regent  of  England,  and  sing  Tyrolese  war-songs  and 


JET.  42.]  Juhile.  219 

Volkslieder  in  his  bright  clear  voice.  He  was  often  at 
the  duchess's  house,  and  she  would  accompany  his  songs 
on  the  piano,  and  then  he  was  tame  and  sociable  enough, 
and  chatty  as  the  mountaineers  of  the  Alps  are  wont  to 
be.  The  duchess  talked  to  the  Empress  about  this 
amusing  foreign  bird,  and  she  expressed  a  wish  to  see 
and  hear  him. 

So  General  Armfeldt  was  commissioned  to  bring  him 
on  an  appointed  evening.  He  invited  him  to  dine  with 
him,  and  put  him  in  good  spirits  with  some  excellent 
wine.  Jubile  came,  told  stories,  chatted  and  sang,  all 
with  the  finest  Tyrolese  gaiety  and  vivacity.  When 
midnight  approached,  the  duchess  and  the  rest  of  the 
company  rose,  the  Empress  came  out  of  her  hiding- 
place  among  the  Court  ladies,  and  kindly  accosted  Jubile, 
talking  to  him  about  Swabia  and  the  Rhine.  She  told 
him  she  was  a  German  from  the  Rhine,  and  begged  him, 
if  the  Tyrolese  should  rise  again  and  God  should  give 
them  victory,  that  he  would  think  of  this  evening  and 
her  petition,  and  not  ravage  Bavaria  and  Swabia.  He, 
being  in  audaciously  high  spirits,  answered  shortly  and 
brusquely,  and,  in  his  quick  Tyrolese  way,  used  strong 
lansuase  about  the  Kings  of  Bavaria  and  Wiirtemberg, 
and  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  who  was  the  Empress's 
brother.  She  listened  smilingly,  and  was  repeating  her 
request,  when  the  rogue  Armfeldt  came  forward  and 
said  :  "  Do  you  know,  Jubile_,  to  whom  you  are  speak- 
ing .'  It  is  the  Empress."  At  these  words  the  man 
turned  pale  and  started  back  in  alarm,  stammering  out : 
"Your  Imperial  Majesty,  pardon  me.  It  was  }-our  own 
doing.     I  did  not  know  who  you  were.     I  thought  you 


220  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

were  only  a  maid  of  honour."  She  kindly  tried  to  re- 
assure him,  but  he  went  away  trembling.  I  went  to  see 
him  the  next  day,  which  was  the  day  on  which  he  should 
have  left  St.  Petersburg,  and  found  him  groaning  in  bed, 
under  the  doctor's  hands.  To  my  astonished  inquiry  as 
to  what  made  him  look  so  weak  and  languid,  he  answered : 
"  It  was  worse  than  a  cannon-ball  yesterday,  the  Empress 
has  shot  me  through  the  heart." 

Here  I  may  explain  by  the  way,  that  Stein  had  in- 
troduced me  as  a  literary  assistant  in  his  department. 
When  he  learnt  to  know  the  ways  of  the  country,  he 
said  to  me  jestingly :  "  Do  you  hear,  you  must  have  one 
of  the  marks  that  everybody  wears  here,  you  must  have 
a  Russian  order.  It  is  a  ticket  of  admission  in  this 
country  :  no  porter  will  let  you  in  without  one."  To 
which  I  answered,  laughing :  "  I  and  a  Russian  order .'' 
I  shall  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  castles  or  palaces 
where  your  Excellency  does  not  go,  and  your  name  will 
be  token  enough."     And  so  it  was  left. 

It  was  a  time  like  that  mentioned  in  the  prophecy  of 
Isaiah,  when  all  nations,  ages,  and  ranks  were  brought 
to  one  level,  when  every  valley  was  exalted,  and  every 
mountain  and  hill  was  brought  low. 

Many  other  famous  people  came  that  summer  to 
St.  Petersburg,  some  of  whom  were  out  of  my  reach. 
Among  those  who  came  within  my  sphere  were  the  two 
European  celebrities,  Madame  de    Stael*  and  August 

*  The  famous  daughter  of  the  famous  Minister  Necker,  and  author  of 
"Coi-inne,"  "Delphine,"  etc.,  etc.,  born  at  Paris,  1768.  Banished  by- 
Napoleon,  she  lived  in  different  parts  of  Europe  until  his  fall,  when  she 
returned  to  Paris,  where  she  died  in  1819. 


^T.  42.]  Madavie  de  Stacl.  221 


Wilhelm  von  Schlegel  *  both  flying  from  Vienna.  What 
shall  I  say  of  this  great,  often-described,  and  much  be- 
praised  lady?  She  was  not  beautiful  in  figure,  being 
almost  too  strong  and  masculine  for  a  woman.  But 
what  a  head  !  The  brow,  eyes  and  nose,  fine,  and  lighted 
up  with  genius  ;  the  mouth  and  chin  less  beautiful. 
With  all  the  spirit  and  vivacity  which  shone  from  her 
eyes  and  flowed  from  her  lips,  her  countenance  expressed 
judgment  and  kindness.  She  could  tell  every  bird  by 
his  beak,  and  knew  at  once  how  she  must  sing  to  him — 
a  royal  talent,  though  many  kings  lack  it. 

It  was  a  pleasure  to  see  her  with  Stein,  and  to  watch 
the  encounter  of  wit  between  these  two  vivacious  beings 
as  they  sat  together  on  a  sofa.  I  remember  one  scene 
with  Madame  de  Stael,  who  used  often  to  make  us 
feel  cold,  showing  us  how  Frenchmen  feel  for  their 
country  and  everything  connected  with  it,  and  how  they 
often  have  too  much  of  that  of  which  we  have  too  little. 
The    French   company    in    St.    Petersburg   was   giving 


*  August  ^Vilhelin  von  Schlegel  was  born  at  Hanover  in  1767,  and 
studied  at  Gottingen,  where  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Heyne  and 
Biirger.  After  some  years  spent  in  private  teaching,  he  settled  at  Jena  and 
became  professor  at  the  university.  Here  he  began  his  famous  translation 
of  Shakespeare,  and  made  himself  a  great  name  as  a  critic.  In  1805  he 
joined  Madame  de  Stael,  and  accompanied  her  in  her  travels  for  several  years. 
His  famous  lectures  on  Dramatic  Art  and  Literature,  which  have  been 
translated  into  most  of  the  languages  of  Europe,  were  published  in  1809. 
Having  distinguished  himself  as  an  enemy  of  Napoleon,  against  whom  he 
wrote  both  in  French  and  German,  he  became  secretary  to  Bernadotte,  and 
received  from  him  a  patent  of  nobility.  After  the  conclusion  of  the  war  he  re- 
joined Madame  de  Stael,  and  remained  with  her  till  her  death.  On  the 
foundation  of  the  university  of  Bonn  he  was  appointed  to  a  professorship, 
and  married  for  his  second  wife  the  daughter  of  Paulus,  from  whom  he  was 
separated  the  next  year.  Here  he  took  up  the  study  of  Oriental  literature, 
and  established  a  press  for  printing  Sanscrit  works.    He  died  in  1845. 


222  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

"  Phedre."  Rocca,  Madame  de  Stael's  friend,  and  her 
son  had  gone  to  the  theatre,  and  we  were  sitting  at 
dinner  with  the  famous  lady,  when  they  suddenly  re- 
turned somewhat  excited,  and  related  that  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  performance  the  Russians  had  raised  such  a 
storm  of  hissing  and  abuse  at  the  French  and  the  French 
play,  that  the  representation  was  obliged  to  be  stopped. 
It  was  true,  indeed,  and  this  was  the  last  time  that  the 
French  actors  performed  in  St.  Petersburg  that  summer, 
and  before  winter  the  hatred  and  rage  of  the  people 
reached  such  a  pitch  of  violence  that  they  were  forced  to 
leave  the  city  altogether.  As  for  IMadame  de  Stael,  she 
forgot  time  and  place,  and  felt  only  for  herself  and  her 
people.  She  was  beside  herself,  and  burst  into  tears, 
crying,  "  Barbarians !  to  refuse  to  see  the  '  Phedre '  of 
Racine." 

I  have  to  thank  her  for  giving  me  a  little  help  in  the 
French  language.  Stein  or  somebody  else  presented  me 
to  her  as  half  a  soldier,  having  once  been  wounded  and 
shot  down  in  a  duel,  and  I,  to  some  question  of  hers, 
answered  :  "  Oui,  madame,  j'ai  ete  perce  par  un  boulet." 
She  answered,  laughing  :  "  Comment,  monsieur,  vous  avez 
eu  un  boulet  dans  le  corps,  et  vous  vivez  encore  .-*"  I 
will  translate,  to  make  the  point  clear.  "  How,  sir,  you 
have  had  a  cannon-ball  in  the  body,  and  you  are  still 
alive  T'  They  all  laughed,  and  I  laughed  too.  I  had 
used  boulet  for  balle.  This  was  instruction  of  a  practical 
kind. 

As  I  was  ignorant  of  the  language  of  the  country,  I 
could  only  hold  intercourse  v.-ith  those  Russians  who 
could  speak  French  or  German,  and  who  had  therefore 


^T.  42.]  The  Russians.  22\ 


acquired  a  smattering,  at  any  rate,  of  a  European  edu- 
cation, and  having  been  rubbed  and  polished  up  in 
European  style,  had  lost  a  little  of  the  natural  stamp  of 
their  nation.  But  I  missed  no  opportunity  of  observing 
and  studying  the  genuine  Russians,  soldiers  and  peasants, 
small  shopkeepers,  drivers  and  post-boys,  the  actors  and 
dancers,  etc.,  belonging  to  the  Russian  theatres.  The 
taste  for  this  kind  of  natural  history  was  natural  to  me, 
and  I  had  plenty  of  opportunities  of  gratifying  it.  When 
I  was  out  walking  with  my  old  master,  as  I  often  was 
during  my  first  month  at  St.  Petersburg,  we  used  to  bet 
upon  the  people  whom  we  saw  approaching  at  a  certain 
distance,  whether  they  were  Germans,  English,  or  Rus- 
sians, etc.  I  soon  learned  to  know  the  last  by  their 
ways,  by  their  figure  and  their  walk,  so  that  I  was  pretty 
sure*  of  them  at  a  considerable  distance.  My  old  friend 
used  often  to  say  I  must  have  been  changed  by  some 
witch  when  a  baby,  that  I  evidently  belonged  to  some 
race  of  American  Indians,  and  that  I  had  a  nose  like 
a  dog  for  smelling  out  different  races. 

They  are  a  strange  people.  In  the  form  of  their 
features  and  in  the  general  character  of  their  appearance 
and  manners,  Europe  and  Asia  are  mingled.  The  observer 
is  continually  struck  by  Scandinavian,  Tartar,  and  Finnish 
peculiarities.  The  language  is  clearly  related  to  the 
Polish,  but  the  man  himself,  how  different !  He  has  the 
light-heartedness  and  gaiety  which  are  common  to  all 
Slavonic  nations,  but  with  much  more  conscious  talent 
for  acting  than  the  Pole,  and  much  more  sharpness  and 
intelligence  and  daring  determination,  with  all  the  sup- 
pleness and  restlessness  of  his  limbs  and  gestures.     And 


224  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 


when  he  is  in  earnest,  what  obstinacy  and  stiffneckedness 
he  will  display !  what  patient  laboriousness,  and  a  perse- 
verance genuinely  Asiatic  !     And  withal,  a  sense  of  re- 
ligion  as  deep   as  it   is   superficial  in  the  neighbouring 
nation.     I  have  been  perfectly  astounded  at  the  earnest- 
ness of  the  faces  of  those  praying  in   the  churches,  or 
even  in  the  streets  when  the  mid-day  or  evening  bell 
rang  to  prayers.     How  suddenly  every  one  would  stop 
and  fold  his  hands,  and,  self-absorbed  or  gazing  up  into 
heaven,  while  the  gay  or  ordinary  gesture   of  the  pre- 
ceding moment  faded,  would  leave  the  common  earthly 
thoughts  and  cares  in  which  he  had  just  been  plunged, 
and  would  pass  suddenly  into  another  world,  and  stand 
rooted  to  the  spot,  as  if  thunderstruck,  where  he  had 
just  been  moving  so  carelessly  and  thoughtlessly.     One 
feels  that  there  is  a  healthy  kernel,  a  firm  character,  in 
the    people.      The   commonest   peasant   has   a   manner 
which  seems  to  say,  "  I  am  something  " — a  member  of  a 
great  community,  with  rights  inalienable,  and  this  with  a 
touch  of  pride  of  which  the  humble  German  has  no  idea. 
I  am  not  speaking  as  one  who  particularly  likes  and  ad- 
mires them  ;  but  this  was  just  the  impression  which  they 
made  upon  me.     They  do  not  like  the  Germans ;  in  fact 
they  despise  them.     I  do  not  wish  to  return  this  feeling, 
but  I  do  not  love  them  and  live  among  them  I  could 
not  for  all  the  world  !     They  had  a  hard,  heavy  task 
to  fulfil,  and  they  did  it  well.      I  do  not  believe  that 
any   great   change    in    the   world   will    ever    originate 
from  them,  nor  do  I   ever  wish  to  see  them  enter  my 
Fatherland  to  reform  and  revolutionise  it;  but  at  the 
same  time  no  foreign  influence  would  find  it  easy  to 


-«T.  42.]  The  Russians.  225 

disturb  these  firm,  confident  people   in  their  mode  of 
life. 

And  among  the  Russians  of  higher  rank  what  grand 
simple  heads  may  be  found  !  Their  calm  power  astonishes 
and  overawes  you.  I  cannot  call  it  sublime,  that  would 
be  too  high,  but  resolute,  determined,  and  independent. 
What,  independence  in  states  like  Russia  and  Turkey, 
where  caprice  and  arbitrary  power  almost  always  prevail 
over  justice  .^  Yes,  independence.  ]\Iuch  of  this  is  due 
to  the  nature  of  the  people,  and  still  more  to  its  system 
of  government.  The  men  look  as  calm  and  immovable 
as  iron  fate,  and  I  can  understand  how  such  countenances 
are  moulded  in  Russia  and  Turkey.  Whoever  has 
strength  and  courage  enough  rises  above  the  fear  with 
which  one  only  inspires  him,  all  else  being  to  him  no 
more  than  the  dust  of  the  ground  on  which  he  walks. 
He  only  needs  to  hold  fast  two  ideas,  that  he  must  keep 
up  his  courage,  and  that  the  Emperor  is  nothing  but  a 
mortal  after  all.  How  different  it  is  in  freer  lands — in 
England,  France,  and  Germany !  A  man,  however  brave 
he  may  be,  must  divide  his  powers,  must  show  a  front 
against  many  things  and  many  people,  and  with 
care  and  prudence  must  try  to  turn  the  flank,  and  can 
seldom  dare  to  break  through  the  centre.  While  in 
countries  where  there  is  one  God  and  one  autocrat  to  be 
adored,  where  God  is  very  far  away  and  the  autocrat 
almost  as  distant,  he  may  bravely  charge  the  very 
centre.  For  where  all  are  enslaved,  each  individual  is 
comparatively  independent. 

Napoleon  lost  much  precious  time  at  ]\Ioscow,  hoping 
to  ensnare  the  Emperor  of  Russia  into  a  peace,  remem- 

15 


226  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1812. 

bering  how  his  occupation  of  Vienna  and  other  capitals 
had  served  him  on  former  occasions.  But  this  time  he 
missed  his  aim.  Peace  did  not  appear,  but  winter  came 
instead  ;  and  at  last  it  became  necessary  to  prepare  for 
a  retreat. 

On  the  20th  of  October,  the  signal  was  given  to 
march  out  ;  and  on  the  23rd,  in  the  sight  of  the  Rus- 
sians, whom  they  had  called  barbarians,  the  French  blew 
up  the  beautiful  Kremlin,  an  historic  monument  built  in 
a  style  half  Italian,  half  Asiatic.  This  was  one  of  those 
acts  of  useless  Vandalism  which  that  nation,  who  call 
themselves  the  leaders  of  civilisation  and  progress,  have 
committed,  not  only  under  the  Melacs,  but  in  our  own 
days  in  a  hundred  places  in  Germany,  For  the  Kremlin 
was  no  fortress,  was  not  built  for  warlike  purposes  ;  but 
was  merely  a  little  town  of  marvels  in  the  midst  of  the 
larger  city. 

Winter,  and  the  lances  of  the  Cossacks  harassing 
their  rear,  turned  the  retreat  of  the  French  into  a  flight, 
accompanied  by  such  a  loss  of  men  and  horses  as  had 
not  been  seen  for  a  thousand  years.  The  Russians 
followed  them  towards  the  West. 

The  Czar  was  about  to  leave  St,  Petersburg,  and 
Herr  vom  Stein  preceded  him  to  Prussia,  He  took  me 
with  him  in  his  carnage,  in  which  we  travelled  wrapped 
up  in  furs,  like  a  couple  of  bears. 


CHAPTER   X. 

RETURN    TO   GERMANY. 

Death  of  Chazot. — Horrible  scenes  in  Wilna. — Konigsberg.— Enthusiasm. — 
Landwehr  and  Landsturm.— Song  of  the  German  Fatherland.— Soldiers' 
Catechism. — -Leaves  Konigsberg  for  Kalisch. 

We  left  St.  Petersburg  January  5,  1S13,  and  the  next  day 
reached  Pleskow,  once  a  city  and  a  state  of  glorious  liberty 
and  independence  likeNovgorod,now  lonely  and  forsaken. 
Here  we  received  the  bad  news  that  Count  Chazot  was 
lying  dangerously  ill  of  low  fever.  He  had  come  to  this 
place  on  business  connected  with  the  German  Legion  ; 
for  it  was  a  depot  of  prisoners  and  deserters.  But  they 
had  brought  the  typhus  with  them,  and  the  unhappy 
lads  were  dying  hke  flies  in  November,  and  spreading 
the  disease  in  all  directions. 

My  noble  friend  Chazot  had  caught  the  infection. 
We  saw  him  on  his  death-bed.  A  fellow-countryman, 
Captain  von  Tidemann,  was  nursing  him,  and  he  was 
delirious  and  did  not  know  us.  We  never  saw  him 
again. 

Whilst  the  Minister  and  I  were  spending  an  hour  here, 
our  servants  left  the  sledge  unguarded,  and  several  things 
were  stolen  from  it ;    among  others,  a  portmanteau  m 

15-2 


228  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

which,  in  the  hurry  of  our  departure,  I  had  packed  up 
most  of  my  papers  and  linen,  and  I  never  recovered 
them.  Almost  all  my  linen  was  in  it,  and  I  was  forced 
to  borrow  a  shirt  from  the  Minister  on  the  journey. 
Some  of  the  papers  were  very  valuable,  and  I  could 
never  replace  them  from  memory.  I  also  lost  some 
presents  and  remembrances  from  friends  in  St.  Peters- 
burg; and  my  want  of  clean  linen  made  me  suffer 
double  torment  in  the  Polish  lodgings. 

Sad  thoughts  of  Chazot,  dear  Chazot,  the  brave,  light- 
hearted  hero,  were  continually  present  with  me  through 
the  heavy  snow-storms  ;  and  my  old  master  also  was 
much  dejected,  for  he  was  strongly  attached  to  him. 
Indeed,  he  was  a  man  beloved  by  all.  He  inherited  the 
manly  beauty  and  strength  of  his  father,  but  united  with 
it  a  genuine  German  nature,  and  a  burning  hatred  of  the 
arrogant  conqueror.  The  French  commander  in  Berlin 
having  spoken  insolently  of  his  King,  was  sent  into 
eternity  by  a  shot  from  him  in  a  duel. 

His  father.  Count  Chazot  de  Florencourt,  was  a 
Frenchman  distinguished  for  his  wit,  beauty,  and  gigan- 
tic strength.  The  Crown  Prince  Frederick  of  Prussia 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  youth  during  the  cam- 
paign of  the  Rhine,  in  1735,  and  King  Frederick  invited 
him  to  join  his  service.  This  powerful  count  had  the 
misfortune  to  cut  off  an  opponent's  head  in  a  duel :  a 
similar  accident  to  that  which  befell  the  eldest  son  of 
Madame  de  Stael  at  the  hands  of  a  Cossack  officer,  at 
Rostock,  in  1S13. 

On  the  King  observing  that  he  wanted  officers,  not 
executioners,   in   his   service,    Count    Chazot   requested 


^T.  43.]  To  Wilna.  229 

leave  to  retire,  and  became  Commandant  of  the  Imperial 
town  of  Lubeck.  He  had  several  sons  by  his  marriage 
with  a  Countess  von  Schmettau,  who  were  received  into 
the  Prussian  service.  Our  friend  was  therefore  of 
foreign  origin,  but  showed  no  traces  of  his  foreign  blood 
in  his  manners  or  leanings. 

From  Pleskow,  or  P'skow,  as  it  is  generally  abbre- 
viated, we  travelled  to  Druja,  then  crossed  the  frozen 
Duna,  and  thence  by  Widsky  and  Sventziani  to  Wilna. 
It  was  a  poor,  sandy,  sparsely-peopled  country,  becom- 
ing more  fertile  as  we  approached  Wilna. 

We  saw  traces  of  the  war  everywhere  growing  more 
and  more  distinct  the  nearer  we  came  to  Wilna.  Houses 
unroofed  and  in  ruins,  so  deserted  by  man  and  beast 
that  we  never  even  heard  the  mew  of  a  cat  in  them  ; 
desolate  remains  of  walls  and  buildings.  The  very  small 
Lithuanian  post-horses  were  so  thin  and  over-driven 
that  we  were  obliged  to  stop  at  every  little  hill  to  let 
them  breathe,  though  we  had  put  our  carriage  on  run- 
ners, and  had  a  team  of  six  or  eight  horses. 

We  had  plenty  of  time,  in  our  slow  progress  over 
these  deserts  of  snow,  to  think  over  the  horrors  which 
this  last  campaign  had  caused.  Oh,  if  a  proud  con- 
queror could  weep  as  he  makes  thousands  of  mothers 

weep  ! 

On  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  days  of  our  journey, 
we  were  continually  meeting  little  groups  of  prisoners 
being  led  back  towards  the  East.  What  a  sight ! 
Ragged,  frozen,  blue  with  cold,  living  on  horseflesh,  they 
scarcely  looked  like  human  beings.  They  died  before 
our  eyes,  in  the  villages,  and  in  front  of  the  post-houses. 


230  Life  of  Arndt.  [a-D-  1S13. 


The  sick  lay  on  straw  in  sledges,  piled  one  upon  the 
other.  When  one  died,  he  was  pushed  out  into  the 
snow. 

Along  the  roads  the  dead  lay  like  carrion — uncovered 
and  unburied — no  human  eye  had  wept  over  their  last 
agony.  Many  of  them  displayed  frightful  wounds,  and 
some  had  even  been  hung  from  the  trees,  to  serve  as 
ghastly  way-marks.  The  dead  men  and  the  fallen 
horses  pointed  out  the  way  to  Wilna,  and  the  most 
ignorant  could  scarcely  miss  the  road !  Our  horses 
snorted  and  reared  constantly,  as  they  wound  their  way 
among  them,  and  sometimes  had  to  leap  over  them. 
But  it  was  not  the  horror  of  the  dead  bodies  that 
frightened  them,  but  the  scent  of  the  wolves,  whom  we 
often  saw  in  groups  of  ten  or  fifteen,  busy  over  their 
prey,  sometimes  crossing  our  path  a  few  paces  in  front 
of  us. 

We  entered  Wilna  late  in  the  evening  of  the  nth  of 
January.  Our  largest  sledge  stuck  fast  in  the  gutter. 
The  servants  went  to  fetch  help,  and  the  Minister  went 
into  an  inn  near.  I  stayed  by  the  sledge.  As  we  were 
working  with  all  our  might,  and  I  was  underneath,  hoist- 
ing the  sledge  with  my  shoulder,  a  great  blustering 
sledge  came  rushing  by,  and  sent  us  all  back  into  the 
ditch  again.  I  was  beginning  to  swear,  when  the  occu- 
pant of  the  other  sledge,  which  had  stuck  fast  on  ours, 
flew  out,  and  we  began  to  exchange  blows.  But  this 
soon  changed  to  laughter,  for  he  proved  to  be  a  dear 
friend,  j\Iajor  von  Pfuel,*  who  was  coming  from  head- 

*  Ernst  von  Pfuel  born  17S0,  chief  of  the  staff  to  Tettenbom,  served 
after\vards  under  Bliicher  in   iS  14-15.     In  1S15  he  was  made  Governor  of 


^T.  43-]  Polish  Troubles.  231 

quarters  to  fetch  provisions  from  the  town.  He  was  glad 
to  see  us,  and  with  his  people  soon  helped  us  out.  We 
joined  the  Minister,  and  after  six  miserable  nights,  spent 
a  cheerful  evening  in  Miiller's  inn  in  the  Deutschen 
Strasse.  But — but — what  about  rest }  The  first  night 
our  extreme  fatigue  helped  us  through,  but  afterwards 
came  the  usual  Polish  miseries  and  longings  to  be  gone. 
For  on  the  second  day  the  Minister  left  us  behind  him, 
and  we  were  obliged  to  wait  for  some  luggage  from  St. 
Petersburg,  and  follow  him  slowly  by  Grodno,  joining 
him  not  far  from  the  Prussian  frontier. 

As  for  my  Polish  troubles  :  I  had  a  most  splendid 
room  for  my  quarters,  hung  with  silk  tapestry  and 
adorned  with  mirrors  and  with  Morghen's  engravings  after 
Raphael.  I  had  had  my  bed  made  up  on  a  soft  sofa, 
when,  to  my  indescribable  disgust,  I  saw  that  the  walls 
were  covered  with  frightful  yellow  crawlers  !  Horrible. 
I  was  obliged  to  cross  myself  and  utter  my  "  Perfer,"  but 
was  the  "  proderit  tibi  "  true  here  .''  In  other  matters  there 
was  no  want  of  good  things,  and  after  the  flight  of  the 
French  there  was  plenty  of  good  wine  to  be  had,  both 
French  and  Hungarian. 

The  next  day,  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  Minister  had 
left,  I  went  out  to  look  about  the  town.  It  seemed  to 
me  a  very  Tartarus.     Everywhere  abominable  filth  and 

Paris  after  its  capture,  and  afterwards  was  plenipotentiary  of  the  King  of 
Prussia  at  Neufclratel.  In  1847  he  was  Governor  of  Berlin,  and  the  next 
year  was  employed  in  suppressing  the  insurrection  in  Posen.  In  the  Sep- 
tember of  1848  the  King,  in  his  extremity,  entrusted  him  with  the  formation 
of  a  new  Cabinet ;  but  his  incapacity  becoming  evident,  he  resigned  in  the 
next  month.  From  that  time  he  retired  into  private  life  until  his  death  in 
1866. 


232  Life  of  A rndt.  [a.d.  i S i 3. 

fearful  stenches ;  greas}^  Jews  and  a  few  unfortunate 
prisoners,  chiefly  wounded  men  or  convalescents,  creeping 
miserably  about ;  all  the  streets  darkened  with  dirty 
smoke,  for  in  front  of  almost  every  house  the  inhabitants 
had  gathered  together  heaps  of  everything  that  could  be 
burnt — in  some  cases  they  were  merely  dung-heaps. 
These  were  kept  smouldering  day  and  night  to  keep  off 
the  infection  of  the  prevailing  pestilence.  Some  of  the 
streets  were  strewed  with  French  cockades,  soiled  plumes, 
torn  hats  and  shakos,  lyiiig  trampled  in  the  dust,  bring- 
ing to  one's  recollection  those  who  had  passed  so  proudly 
through  Wilna  five  months  before.  I  went  out  of  the 
gates,  and  sauntered  about  for  a  couple  of  miserable 
hours  in  the  suburbs,  on  the  side  towards  Wilkomirz  and 
Kovnow.  What  misery  !  All  the  tokens  of  past  horrors 
which  I  had  noticed  in  the  town  were  multiplied  here  : 
perfectly  naked  dead  bodies,  slaughtered  horses,  oxen, 
and  dogs,  the  faithful  and  unfortunate  sharers  of  the 
enormous  misery.  Many  houses  were  quite  in  ruins, 
without  floors,  windows,  or  fire-places.  Some  were 
nothing  but  shells,  while  among  the  dismal  remains  a 
few  prisoners  and  convalescents  were  creeping  about  like 
shadows,  and  sometimes  a  poor  forsaken  horse  would  be 
seen  crouching  in  a  corner,  half  frozen,  and  trying  to  pick 
up  a  few  mouthfuls  of  hay.  As  I  went  back  into  the 
town,  I  met  an  intelligent  young  man,  of  whom  I  asked 
a  question.  He  was  a  native  of  Brabant,  and  the  head- 
surgeon  of  a  hospital  of  French  prisoners,  who  were 
quartered  in  a  convent.  I  went  with  him  to  the  entrance 
of  this  house  of  misery,  and  saw  the  whole  courtyard  full 
of  corpses — and  turned  back.     He  told  me  that  out  of 


JET.  43.]  After  the  French.  233 


two  thousand  patients  from  fifty  to  eighty  died  every  day, 
and  so  his  work  would  soon  be  easy.  When  I  came 
close  to  the  gate  of  the  town,  I  met  fifty  or  sixty  sledges 
full  of  corpses,  which  were  being  conveyed  away  from 
the  hospitals  and  public  squares.  They  were  being  carried 
like  logs,  and  were  stifi"ened  by  the  cold,  and  would  be 
bad  food  for  the  worms  and  fishes,  for  many  of  them 
were  thrown  into  the  river.  It  was  a  lamentable  sight  to 
see  men,  whose  births  had  been  greeted  with  joy  and  Avho 
had  been  tenderly  brought  up,  torn  away  from  their 
parents  and  friends  in  the  bloom  of  their  youth  by  a 
savage  conqueror,  and  now  carried  away  to  their  last 
resting-place  with  as  little  respect  or  decency  as  if  they 
w^ere  but  beasts  of  the  earth. 

The  13th  of  January  was  beautifully  bright  and 
not  too  cold.  The  sunshine  tempted  me  out  again, 
and  I  wandered  out  at  the  other  gate  along  the  little 
river  Wilia,  on  which  the  town  lies.  Before  the  gate 
lay  many  broken-down  French  w^aggons  and  gun-car- 
riages among  the  ruined  houses,  and  this  road  was 
also  strewn  with  caps,  cockades,  and  dead  horses. 
Most  of  the  bodies  had  been  removed,  but  some  lay 
still  forgotten  behind  great  stones  and  bushes  and  the 
pillars  of  the  bridge,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  wolves 
had  been  busy  wath  them.  It  touched  me  to  see  a 
wounded  prisoner,  who  had  been  limping  along  in  front 
of  me,  pale  and  bent,  and  looking  like  one  who  had  just 
come  out  of  a  hospital,  or  perhaps  was  just  going  in,  stop 
before  one  of  these  bodies  and  consider  it,  even  touch  it 
with  his  stick.  Thus  man  grows  to  be  cold  and  indiffer- 
ent to  his  fate ;  indeed,  most  would  at  last  become  callous 


234  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

to  the  sight  of  any  grief  and  misery,  if  they  were  not 
called    to   something  better  and    brighter.     While    this 
man  was  standing  by  the  corpse  of  his  comrade  and  I 
was  considering  them  both,  the  sound  of  music  and  sing- 
ing came  down  the  mountain.  Some  priests  and  mourners 
were  accompanying  with  Christian  rites  a  coffin  and  its 
occupant  to  burial.     The  stream  of  sledges  with  naked 
corpses  continued,  and  I  was  carried   involuntarily  into 
the  courtyard  of  a  great  building,  which  showed  by  the 
size  of  its  rooms  and  its  stabling,  and  by  the  remains  of 
ornamented  chimney-pieces   and  hangings,  that    it   had 
once  been  inhabited  by  wealthy   owners.      Everything 
inside  was  broken  and  shattered,  many  of  the  floors  were 
burnt,    and    about    the    rooms    were    scattered  broken 
pottery,  bones,  rags  of  uniforms,   caps,  plumes,  and   in 
one  little  room  in  the  chimney  the  remains  of  a  half- 
consumed  body.     Perhaps  one  of  the  miserable  inhabi- 
tants had  crawled  towards  the  warmth,  as  worms  do  to 
the  light,  had  lost  his  senses,  and  died   in  the  flames. 
Many  were  found  in  this  Avay  in  the  watch-fires,  who  in 
the  half-sleep  of  death  desiring  to  warm  their  stiffened 
limbs,  came  too  near  the  flames  and  Avere  burned.     A 
horror  came  over  me  as  if  I  had  seen  a  ghost  in  daylight, 
and  I  ran  out  of  the  deserted  building.     That  evening  I 
saw  in  the  town  something  still  worse.    I  had  gone  out  to 
watch  the  Russian  militia  enter  and  pass  through  the 
town,    and  also  to    make  observations    on    the    Polish 
peasants  and   the  Jews,  when  the  sound  of  singing  at- 
tracted me,  and  I  came  unnoticed  to  the  Minsk  Gate, 
where  a  solemn  service  was  being  held.     I  listened  for  a 
few  minutes,  and  then,  on  my  way  back,  passed  into  the 


JET.  43-]  Fearful  Scenes.  235 


enclosure  of  a  church  not  far  from  the  gate.  At  first  I  only- 
looked  at  the  church,  and  then  I  noticed  the  upper  windows, 
or  the  empty  window-frames,  of  a  building  like  a  convent 
or  a  college  running  round  the  court.  As  I  came  closer, 
what  did  I  see  ? — bodies  heaped  up  so  high  that  in  some 
places  they  were  above  the  windows  of  the  second  story. 
There  must  have  been  at  least  a  thousand.  A  hospital 
died  out !  In  the  whole  building  there  was  not  the 
sign  of  a  living  creature,  except  a  dog,  which  was  snuff- 
ing at  one  of  the  doors.  Fortunately  the  hard  frost  had 
stopped  decomposition,  or  the  place  would  have  been 
unapproachable.  Scenes  of  slaughter  must  often  have 
been  witnessed  in  France  and  Germany  after  bloody 
"battles,  but  only  Polish  mismanagement  and  a  year  like 
the  year  18 12  could  have  brought  such  abominations 
before  human  eyes.  But  why  should  I  wonder  at  these 
heaps  of  bodies  }  Was  not  a  dead  Frenchman  lying 
under  our  very  sledge  in  the  filth  and  dirty  straw  in  a 
shed  belonging  to  Miiller's  inn,  in  the  Deutsche  Strasse } 
So  great  was  the  misery  of  the  time,  and  such  the  care- 
lessness and  inhumanity  in  this  place. 

Wilna  swarmed  with  Jews.  I  was  obliged  to  make 
some  little  purchases  there  of  necessaries  which  the 
thieves  in  Pleskow  had  taken  from  me,  and  had  there- 
fore, however  unwillingly,  to  make  the  round  of  their 
shops.  I  found  them  here,  in  Lithuania,  less  beautiful 
in  form  and  face  than  in  Poland.  In  this  war  the  Jews 
had  shown  an  inclination  towards  Russia,  and  did  not 
revolt  like  the  Poles,  for  the  much-praised  Polish  liberty 
did  not  give  them  the  security  of  property  which  they 
enjoyed  under  the  Russian  sceptre.  They  appear  to  have 


236  L ife  of  A  rndt.  [a-d.  i  8  i  3. 


had  a  good  political  instinct,  for  from  the  very  beginning 
they  showed  themselves  hostile  to  the  French,  and  the 
allurement  of  gold  would  very  seldom  induce  them  to 
act  as  spies  or  traitors.  In  Wilna,  on  the  entry  of  the 
Russians,  they  fought  bravely  against  the  French,  and 
chased  them  boldly  with  war-cries,  killing  and  capturing 
several  hundreds.  The  spoil  which  they  took  from  these 
plunderers  of  the  world,  and  the  trade  which  they  carried 
on  with  the  Cossacks,  must  have  considerably  enriched 
them. 

On  the  14th  of  January  I  passed  out  by  the  Minsk 
Gate  towards  Grodno.  The  moon  shone  on  a  field  of 
corpses.  For  a  distance  of  nearly  two  miles  lay  the 
bodies  of  those  who  had  been  struck  down  or  who  had 
died  of  exposure  to  the  cold,  in  heaps  of  from  thirty  to 
fifty  ;  near  dead  horses  there  always  lay  two  or  three 
human  bodies,  and  our  sledge  glided  over  the  bones  of 
men.  I  saw  an  unusual  number  of  wolves  creeping  past 
us  in  the  woods.  This  was  more  than  five  weeks  after 
the  entry  of  the  Russians  into  Wilna.  I  carried  away 
with  me  a  ghastly  recollection  of  the  place. 

The  country  between  Wilna  and  Grodno  I  found  much 
more  fertile  and  better  cultivated  than  that  between 
Pleskow  and  Wilna,  and  there  the  war  had  not  left 
behind  it  so  many  marks  of  its  desolating  footsteps. 
Grodno  is  a  very  clean  little  town.  I  only  stayed  there 
a  few  hours,  and  that  night  reached  my  master  and  the 
imperial  head-quarters,  where  I  slept  like  a  king  on  two 
chairs  in  a  well-warmed  cottage  room.  On  the  17th  of 
January  we  arrived  in  the  Prussian  town  of  Lyck,  and 
took  up  our  abode  in  the  court-house.     It  was  bitterly 


/ET.  43.]  Giimbbincn.  2'^'J 


cold,  and  a  huncjry  evening,  and  the  incursion  of  Russians 
had  swelled  the  population,  so  that  the  supply  of  food 
was  not  sufficient.  But  how  pleasant  it  was  to  be  again 
among  Germans,  and,  in  spite  of  all  they  had  suffered 
from  friend  and  foe,  to  be  received  with  glad  faces  and 
anticipations  of  better  fortune  !  On  the  iSth  we  pro- 
ceeded on  our  way  in  sledges  through  Prussian  woods 
and  over  frozen  seas,  until  late  in  the  night,  w^hen  we  got 
a  little  sleep  in  another  court-house.  Early  on  the  19th 
we  came  to  the  house  of  the  President  of  the  Province, 
Herr  von  Schon,=^  in  Gumbinnen,  where  we  stayed  the 
whole  of  the  day  and  that  following  night.  We  were  re- 
ceived with  the  utm_ost  joy.  This  most  distinguished 
man  was  an  old  friend  of  the  Minister.  We  had  much 
conversation,  and  many  stories  were  told  of  the  flying 
French  marshals  and  officials,  who  had  passed  Gum- 
binnen on  their  way  to  Konigsberg.  They  were  naturally 
very  uneasy  in  Prussia,  knowing  that  the  people  might 
rise  any  night  and  murder  them  all.  What  would  have 
happened  to  Germans  in  such  a  position  in  France .'' 
They  would  scarcely  have  got  away  with  a  whole  skin. 
And  we  used  not  to  be  so  tame  in  earlier  times.  How 
was  it,  then  .?     The  marshals  had  been  quartered  in  the 

*  Heinrich  Theodor  von  Schon,  born  1773,  studied  under  Kant  at 
Konigsberg,  and  afterwards  made  a  journey  to  England  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  her  political  institutions.  He  entered  the  service  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Prussia,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Immediate  Commission  appointed 
after  the  peace  of  Tilsit.  He  thus  had  a  share  in  the  refomis  of  Stein. 
The  act  of  General  Yorck  in  falling  away  from  the  French  alliance  is  said 
not  to  have  been  accomplished  without  his  knowledge.  After  the  peace  he 
held  the  government  of  the  province  of  Prussia,  and  on  the  accession  of 
Frederick  William  IV.,  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  efforts  made  to  obtain 
from  that  King  the  constitution  so  long  promised.  In  1S42  he  retired  from 
official  life,  and  died  in  1856. 


238  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

best  houses,  but  they  and  the  other  chief  officers  con- 
veyed themselves  and  their  property  into  miserable  huts, 
thinking  they  should  be  better  concealed  there,  and  they 
paid  for  their  night's  lodgings  with  friedrichs-d'or,  so 
much  did  they  fear  being  attacked  and  plundered. 

Leaving  Gumbinnen  on  the  21st  of  January,  1813,  we 
arrived  towards  evening  at  the  capital  of  Old  Prussia, 
Konigsberg,  where  we  found  quarters  prepared  for  us  in 
the  splendid  house  of  the  brothers  Nicolovius.  The 
Minister  lodged  with  the  bookseller,  and  I  with  the 
President*  Here  Stein  assembled  the  officials  and 
principal  men,  among  them  Count  Alexander  zu  Dohna, 
a  former  minister,  and  President  von  Schon.  He  acted 
apparently  in  the  name  and  authority  of  the  Emperor  of 
Russia,  but  in  such  a  manner  and  with  such  ingenuity 
that  the  King  of  Prussia  was  tacitly  made  to  appear  as 
his  friend  and  ally.  The  country  was  to  be  treated,  not 
as  conquered  territory,  but  as  a  land  which  they  came  to 
deliver. 

Konigsberg  now  affiDrded  a  very  lively  picture  of  war- 
like life.  There  were  General  Yorck's  brave  regiments 
in  and  around  the  town,  Russian  generals  and  officers, 
Prussian  prisoners  or  wounded,  who  had  been  brought 
here,  and  who,  although  the  state  of  things  between 
Prussia  and  Russia  was  still  undecided,  were  allowed  to 
go  about  free,  as  if  the  peace  and  alliance  had  been 
already  declared  ;  companies  of  unhappy  French  prisoners 

*  G.  H.  L.  Nicolovius,  born  1767,  a  native  of  Konigsberg,  was  secretai-y 
to  the:  Duke  of  Oldenburg,  and  in  that  position  had  intercourse  with 
Claudius,  Jakobi  and  many  other  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  the 
time.  He  married  Goethe's  niece.  Afterwards  he  held  an  important 
position  in  the  department  of  public  worship  and  education  in  Prussia. 


^T.  43.]  Konigsherg.  239 


driven  through  the  town  by  the  whips  of  the  Cossacks, 
and  troops  of  young  men  coming  in,  amidst  great  ap- 
plause, to  strengthen  and  complete  Yorck's  army.  There 
was  the  bustle  and  confusion  of  the  hospitals  filled  with 
German  and  Russian,  and  a  few  French  sick  and 
wounded  ;  and  deaths  were  frequent  here,  though  there 
were  no  such  horrible  sights  as  in  Wilna  ;  but,  as  is 
always  the  case  when  sickness  follows  war,  the  plague 
spread  in  the  town  so  frightfully  that  half  the  doctors  of 
the  hospital  died.  And  now  Stein  had  come,  and  the 
eyes  of  all  were  turned  upon  him,  while  people  streamed 
in  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  some  brought  there  by 
their  own  inclinations,  and  some  summoned  to  Stein's 
great  Prussian  Landtag. 

All  this  taken  together,  it  will  be  easily  understood 
that  the  town  was  in  an  extraordinarily  lively  state,  and 
all  hearts  beat  in  unwonted  sympathy.  In  this  ocean  of 
stormy  life  and  emotion  I  was  a  happy  drop,  seldom 
failing  to  be  present  at  the  Landtag,  and  all  other  great 
assemblies,  and  at  the  public  festivities  and  banquets, 
and  in  my  hours  of  leisure  enjoying  the  kindness  and 
affection  of  men  of  like  minds,  both  old  and  new  friends 
rejoicing  in  the  brightness  of  the  rising  day  in  Germany 
with  as  youthful  an  enthusiasm,  as  if  I  had  suddenly  been 
carried  back  from  my  fortieth  to  my  twentieth  year. 

The  Prussian  Estates  had  assembled  on  the  5th  of 
February,  1S13.  The  brave,  good  Count  Alexander 
Dohna  was  at  their  head  ;  a  higher  spirit,  by  God's 
mercy  and  grace,  calling  upon  Germany  to  arise  from 
her  long  shame,  animated  and  inspired  all.  With  the 
utmost  speed  money  was  collected  and  men  assembled. 


240 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a-d-  1813. 


From  twenty  thousand  to  thirty  thousand  men,  volun- 
teers and  others,  were  armed  and  equipped,  and  the 
order  for  a  levee  en  masse  was  drawn  up,  proclaimed, 
and  carried  out. 

General  Yorck,*  who  had  been  called  upon  to  take  the 
first  step  on  behalf  of  Prussia,  attracted  much  attention 
from  me  and  from  all  those  who  had  not  seen  him  before. 
He  was  of  an  upright,  resolute  figure,  with  a  broad, 
arched  brow,  full  of  courage  and  intelligence,  and  a  cold 
sarcastic  smile  round  his  lips.  He  looked  as  tough  as 
wrought-iron,  and  proved  to  be  so  in  many  battles  with 
the  foreigner. 

Herr  vom  Stein  only  stayed  here  a  short  time,  hurrying 

on  to  Breslau,  whither  the  King  of  Prussia  had  repaired  ; 

for  Berlin  and  Spandau  were  in  the  hands  of  the  French, 

who  behaved  as  if  they  thought  the  country  was  still  to 

be  subject  to  them.     At  last,  to  the  great  joy  of  every 

one,  the  King's  resolution  was  announced  at  Breslau. 

Although  an  appearance  of  negotiation  was  still  kept  up, 

there  was  no  real  doubt  of  the  result  after  the  King  had 

called  upon  the  volunteers  and  given  orders  concerning 

them  on  the  3rd  of  February. 

*  Hans  David  Yorck,  Count  von  Wartenburg,  bom  1 757,  served  in  1 783-84 
in  the  Dutch  service,  in  the  East  Indies.  Returning  to  his  native  country 
he  took  part  in  the  campaign  in  Poland,  1794  ;  but  he  first  made  himself 
a  name  in  the  campaign  of  1806,  when  he  was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner 
at  Liibeck.  After  the  peace  of  Tilsit  he  was  made  commander  of  the 
Reserve.  It  was  at  Scharnhorst's  wish  that  he  was  appointed  to  the  second 
command  in  the  force  sent  to  aid  Napoleon.  Grawert  falling  ill,  the  chief 
command  fell  to  him,  and  his  independent  act  in  making  peace  with  the 
Russians  was  a  turning  point  in  the  whole  war.  He  fought  afterwards  in 
the  battles  of  Lutzen,  Bautzen,  Katzbach,  Wartenburg,  Mochern,  and  Laon. 
He  took  no  part  in  the  campaign  of  1S15.  He  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  field-marshal,  and  died  in  1S30. 


^T.  43.]  Napoleon  and  Prussia.  ia^\ 

I  passed  a  royal  time  here  in  Konigsberg,  with  some 
other  German  birds  of  passage,  who  still  had  a  little 
heart  left  in  them,  and  even  now,  after  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  my  heart  beats  faster  at  the  recollection. 
People  here  testified  their  joy  in  a  different  manner  to 
those  at  St.  Petersburg.  The  Prussians  are  a  splendid 
race  of  Germans,  especially  the  East-Prussians  and  those 
descended  from  the  Salzburgers.*  They  have  both  fire 
and  perseverance,  and  to  their  intellectual  gifts  their 
literature  can  testify. 

Napoleon  had  not  conducted  himself  with  such  cruelty 
towards  any  of  the  German  States  which  were  allied  to 
him,  or  which  he  had  overthrown,  as  towards  Prussia. 
It  had  always  been  the  wicked  pleasure  of  this  great 
general  and  small-minded  man — had  he  been  a  great- 
minded  man  he  might  have  dominated  Europe  and 
the  aee  itself — wherever  he  found  virtue  and  honour  re- 
maining  to  heap  reproach  upon  them.  When  the  King  at 
last  declared  himself,  acknowledging  the  will  of  God  and 
the  wishes  and  prayers  of  his  people,  he  raised  a  cry  of 
treason — he  who  never  kept  a  treaty,  who  had  insolently 
and  faithlessly  broken  through  at  once  his  last  treaty  with 
Prussia,  by  garrisoning  the  fortresses  of  Spandau  and 
Pillau,  and  by  taking  with  him  to  Russia  several  Prussian 
regiments.  He  complained  that  he  had  been  too  gener- 
ous in  not  overthrowing  the  ruins  of  Prussia  and  over- 
turning its  throne. 

He  knew  well  why  he  had  done  it — because  he  could 


* 


30,000  or  40,000  Protestants  were  driven  out  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Salzburg  in  1730.  They  were  received  by  the  King,  Frederick  \YiIliam  I. 
of  Prussia,  and  settled  in  East  Prussia. 

16 


242  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 


only  rule  the  people  through  their  sovereign  and  princes. 
If  the  Scythian  campaign  of  1812  had  prospered,  what 
sport  he  would  have  had  next  year  in  Germany  and 
Poland  !  How  many  crowns  would  he  have  cast  in  the 
dust,  and  how  many  thrones  would  he  have  declared 
vacant !  Prussia  had  been  fearfully  desolated  in  1S07, 
beine  the  scene  of  war  between  the  Russians  and  the 
French.  In  the  spring  of  18 12  these  cruelties  were 
repeated.  The  country  was  plundered  and  utterly  ex- 
hausted by  the  armies  which  were  marched  through  and 
quartered  upon  it,  by  the  seizure  of  grain,  horses  and 
cattle.  And  now  Prussia,  though  bleeding  from  a  thou- 
sand wounds,  forgot  all  in  the  joy  of  her  deliverance,  and 
armed  herself  to  march  in  the  van  for  the  liberty  of 
Germany. 

The  first  Landwehr*  was  formed  here,  consisting  of 

from  thirty  to  forty  thousand  men.     The  vacancies  in 

the  Prussian    regiments  returned  from    Courland  were 

filled  up,  and  a  splendid  volunteer  cavalry  regiment  was 

formed    under  the  leadership  of  Count  von  Lehndorf. 

There  was  enthusiasm  every^vhere,  in  town  and  country, 

in  the  streets  and  in  the  fields,  in  the  schools  and  in  the 

pulpits.     In  this  poor,   cold  time,  people  smile  at   the 

remembrance  of  it.     But  what  is  now  only  considered 

and  criticised  as  a  sort  of  poetical  drama,  of  a  somewhat 

childish   description,  was  to   us  a  matter  of  the    most 

intense   and   sacred    earnestness.     Boys    of    sixteen    or 

seventeen,  scarcely  strong  enough  to  bear  arms,  left  their 

schools  to  learn  to  load   a   gun  and  manage  a  horse, 

and  declaimed  passages  translated   from  the  hymns  of 

*  Militia  used  in  time  of  emergency  for  foreign  service. 


^T.  43.]  Schoolboys.  243 


Tyrtasus,  and  lyrics  out  of  Klopstock's  "  Hermann- 
Schlacht,"  while  old  men  and  mothers  stood  by  with 
folded  hands,  and  prayed  for  victory  and  a  blessing. 

Professor  Delbriick*  invited  me  to  a  solemn  Actus  of 
the  Gymnasium,  of  which  he  was  the  visitor.  All  the 
boys  of  the  first  class  had  volunteered,  and  were  going 
to  the  war — most  of  them  in  the  cavalry  regiment  which 
Colonel  Count  Lehndorf  was  forming  entirely  of  volun- 
teers who  were  able  to  furnish  their  own  horses  and 
equipments.  I  suffered  personally  from  this  outburst 
of  patriotism,  for  my  good  attendant,  the  servant  of  my 
host  the  President  Xicolovius,  was  seized  with  enthusiasm 
for  the  cause  of  his  fatherland,  and  set  about  collecting 
from  his  patrons  the  means  of  procuring  a  horse  and 
arms,  to  which  I  contributed  fifteen  thalers.  I  saw  the 
brave  young  fellow  afterwards  in  Berlin,  a  sergeant- 
major,  and  with  many  medals  on  his  breast. 

The  Actus  arranged  by  Delbriick  in  the  Gymnasium 
was  of  the  most  solemn  description.  The  scholars 
recited  Klopstock's  odes,  Gleim's  songs,  the  "  Hermann- 
Schlacht,"  and  other  German  and  Prussian  poems,  and  I 
remember  how,  when  a  youth  broke  down  and  stuck  fast 
in  Klopstock's  verse : 

"  Ha,  da  kommt  er  mit  Schweiss,  mit  Romerblute, "  etc., 

Delbriick,  whose  German  enthusiasm  was  always  re- 
doubled on  such  occasions,  took  up  the  verse,  and 
declaimed  it  with  such  startling  emphasis  that  the  whole 
audience  broke  out  into  shouts  of  applause. 

In  the  formation  of  this  regiment,  which  was  ready 

*  Tutor  to  the  Crown  Prince,  afterwards  Frederick  \Yilliam  IV. 

16 — 2 


244  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

and  splendidly  equipped  in  a  few  weeks,  I  chanced  to 
take  some  part,  for  Count  Lehndorf  laid  before  me,  for 
my  opinion  and  approval,  the  call-to-arms  which  he  had 
issued  to  his  countrymen.  I  found  it,  however,  rather 
my  duty  to  extinguish  the  unnecessary  fire  of  it,  than  to 
add  any  of  my  own. 

The  count  led  this  fine  regiment  with  great  honour 
through  many  battles,  but  brought  very  few  of  his  brave 
youths  home  again. 

It  was  here,  in  the  midst  of  the  universal  enthusiasm 
which  was  driving  the  whole  nation  to  the  combat,  that 
my  "  Song  of  the  German  Fatherland "  sprang  into 
existence,  which  has  been  sung  in  later  days  in  Germany, 
but  at  last  probably,  like  other  songs,  will  have  had  its 
day.  Would  that  we  were  nearer  than  we  are  to  the 
fulfilment  of  its  wishes  ! 

I  also  wrote  a  little  book,  "  Uber  Landwehr  und  Land- 
sturm,""^  the  success  of  which  pleased  me  greatly,  for  in 
a  few  months  many  thousands  of  it  were  printed  and 
scattered  over  Germany,  quite  independently  of  me. 
Such  pamphlets,  like  the  falling  autumn  leaves,  soon 
grow  yellow,  and  are  forgotten  in  the  lapse  of  time. 

Here,  too,  another  edition  of  Arndt's  "  Soldier's  Catechism," 
was  brought  out.  The  following  letter  to  George  Reiraer, 
publisher  in  Berlin,  refers  to  his  publications  of  this  period  : 

E.  M.  A.  to  G,  Reimer. 
"  This  time,  my  dear  brother,  I  am  going  to  write  to  you  as 
an  author.     A  Russian  has  appeared  in  Berlin]  who  has  been 

*  The  Landwehr,  militia  in  great  emergencies  used  for  foreign  service  ; 
the  Landsturm,  a  sort  of  general  levee  of  all  capable  of  bearing  arms  for  the 
defence  of  their  country. 


^T.  43.]  Writings.  245 

pirating,  not  only  many  little  pamphlets,  but  also  books.  I 
published  in  St.  Petersburg  a  little  book  called  '  Die  Glocke 
•der  Stunde,'  '  The  Bell  of  the  Hour.'  This  I  reprinted  here  at 
my  own  expense,  about  a  fortnight  ago,  and  now  I  see  that  it  is 
advertised  as  having  been  printed  and  published  at  Berlin,  and 
this  would  lay  upon  me  the  whole  expense  of  the  new  edition, 
which  in  my  present  circumstances  would  not  be  convenient.  I 
will  commission  you,  therefore,  my  dear  friend,  to  attack  this  to 
me  unknown  Russian  who  has  reprinted  it,  to  send  him  the 
enclosed  account,  demand  the  payment  of  the  sum  due,  and 
send  it  to  Nicolovius,  who  will  pay  the  printer,  Degen.  You 
may  tell  him  that  if  fair  means  will  not  avail  to  keep  him  to  his 
duty,  I  shall  have  opportunity  to  use  foul. 

"  You  vv-rite  to  me  about  writing  a  history  of  the  Russian 
campaign.  It,  with  a  good  deal  of  other  matter  which,  j^rinted 
together  would  make  somewhere  about  twenty  sheets^  has  been 
ready  for  three  weeks,  and  was  to  have  been  printed  here,  but 
the  printer,  after  having  kept  me  waiting  some  time,  and  having 
set  up  two  sheets,  has  given  it  up,  on  account  of  want  of  work- 
men. I  must  now  hope  that  freedom  of  the  press  will  be 
effected  by  the  Russian  arms  in  Saxony,  for  I  will  not  publish 
it  mutilated,  which  the  Berlin  censor  would  insist  upon." 

Referring, to  this  letter  at  a  later  period  he  says:  "At  the 
time  when  I  expressed  these  doubts  about  the  censorship  to 
Reimer,  I  had  not  actually  had  any  experience  of  the  kind  in 
Berlin.  But  I  went  through  it  a  month  later,  when  I  wanted 
to  print  there  my  '  Katechismus  fiir  den  christlichen  Kriegs  und 
Wehrmann.'  The  censor  of  the  time  being — I  think  it  was  a 
privy  councillor  Scholtz  or  Schultz — would  pass  all  the  harmless 
little  book  except  the  part  about  the  French  and  Napoleon,  in 
such  awe  and  fear  did  they  still  stand  of  the  man.  In  short,  I 
musteitherentirely  leave  out  Chapters  v.,  VI.^  VIL,VIII.,  and 
IX.,  or  soften  them  down  and  Frenchify  them,  if  I  wished  him 
to  pass  the  writing.  I  could  not  and  would  not  do  it  in  his 
fashion,  and  so  the  little  book  had  to  be  printed  at  the  head- 
quarters at  Reichenbach.  For  example,  according  to  him,  I  was 
to  change  '  the  tyrant'  in  Chap.  V.,  into  '  the  foreign  ruler  3'  the 


246  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 


*  great  tyrant'  in  Chap.  VI.,  into  '  the  great  and  austere  ruler  ;' 

*  the  foreign  executioner,'  in  Chap.  IX.,  into  '  the  foreign  con- 
queror.' " 

Stein  to  E.  M.  Arndt. 

"Breslau,  March  12th,  1813. 

"  How  our  funds  with  Ph.  (PhilHps)  stand  I  do  not  know. 
He  pursues  me  with  useless  letters,  but  says  nothing  about 
the  principal  thing.     Could  you  not  give  it  me  in  a  couple  of 
figures?  If  our  funds  are  sufficient,  let  your  little  book  be  printed, 
and  draw  for  it  400  to  500  thalers. 

"  As  soon  as  we  see  our  way  a  little  clearer — and  that  will  be 
in  ten  or  twelve  days— I  shall  be  able  to  invite  you  to  me  again, 
my  brave,  good,  witty  friend.  Ibi  uhi,  as  they  say  in  the  Austrian 
military  business  style,  when  any  one  does  not  know  where  he 
is  going  himself  Then  bring  your  little  book  full  of  truth  and 
sense  with  you,  and  collect  all  our  funds  with  Phillips."^' 

And  now  I  must  mention  another  Count  zu  Dohna, 
of  the  House  of  Finkenstein-Schlobitten  ;  Colonel  Count 
Ludwig,  a  younger  brother  of  Count  Alexander,  and  of 
the  two  noble  Russian  campaigners,  Counts  Frederick 
and  Helvetius.  Another  brother  of  this  noble  family, 
Count  Fabian,  had  won  honourable  scars  as  a  volunteer 
in  Spain,  and  was  soon  again  to  take  part  against  the 
foreigners  in  the  German  army.  Colonel  Ludwig  Dohna, 
when  things  were  coming  to  a  climax  in  Prussia,  was 
sent  to  the  King  at  Breslau,  and  brought  back  his  silent 
consent  to  the  arming  of  the  Prussian  patriots.  He  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  organisation  of  the  Prussian 
Landwehr,  and  by  his  own  ardour,  well  supported  by 
his  countrymen,  made  it  fit  for  service  in  an  incredibly 
short  time.  He  was  a  man  of  great  talents  and  vivacity, 
and  as  good-natured    as  he  was  active.      He  and  his 

*  Noth^edmngener  Bericlit. 


^T.  43.]  The  Landivchr.  247 

.  . — • ^ 

Landvvehr,  with  the  help  of  a  small  Russian  force  under 
Duke  Alexander  of  Wiirtemberg,  besieged  the  fortress  of 
Dantzig,  and  at  last  forced  it  to  surrender.  The  young 
hero,  however,  was  worn  out  by  the  difficulties  and  vexa- 
tions of  this  service.  He  had  to  contend  for  his  country's 
sake  against  his  undisciplined  Russian  allies  themselves, 
and  when  at  last  the  white  flag  floated  over  the  town, 
he  vi^as  harassed  by  many  disputes  and  quarrels  for  the 
honour  of  his  fatherland  with  Duke  Alexander,  who 
wished  to  garrison  the  place  entirely  with  Russians. 
The  end  of  it  was  that,  having  won  back  Dantzig,  the 
ancient  capital  of  East  Pomerania,  for  his  King,  he  fell 
sick  of  low  fever,  and  died.     Honour  to  his  memory ! 

It  was  here,  therefore,  that  the  Landvvehr  first  sprang 
into  existence,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Counts  zu 
Dohna,  especially  of  Count  Alexander,  named  Minister 
of  War  for  Prussia  during  the  war.  Afterwards  the  ques- 
tion arose  who  was  the  real  author  and  founder  of  it — I 
should  rather  say,  of  the  principle.  Scharnhorst  has 
been  named.  Rightly,  for  all  the  thoughtful  and  origi- 
nating military  men  in  Prussia  were  his  pupils.  One  of 
his  favourite  scholars.  Colonel  von  Clausewitz,  had  some 
years  before  presented  to  his  Majesty  the  King  a  paper 
on  the  subject  of  the  defence  and  arming  of  the  Prussian 
kingdom,  written  with  energetic  clearness  and  brevity 
considering  the  subject  from  every  possible  point  of 
view,  and  supposing  that  circumstances  might  occur 
which  would  arouse  the  whole  people  against  their  ma- 
lignant oppressors. 

I  have  had   this  essay  in  my  hands,  and  have  made 
extracts  from  it,  in  consequence  of  which  I  was  ques- 


248  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S13. 

tioned  during  the  Socialist  investigations,  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  I  was  the  author  of  it.  All  the  Counts  Dohna, 
Count  Alexander  included,  were  of  this  school,  being 
attracted  to  it  by  their  own  inclinations  and  by  their 
family  connections.  The  Alinister,  Count  Alexander,  the 
quietest,  most  modest,  and  best  of  men,  and  therefore  full 
of  the  most  fiery  ardour  and  fearless  courage  when  the 
interests  of  his  King  and  fatherland  were  concerned,  was 
the  first  to  bring  the  Landwehr,  in  the  most  rapid  and 
efficient  manner,  into  existence  in  Prussia.  Therefore 
he  and  Scharnhorst  and  Scharnhorst's  pupil,  Clausewitz, 
may  be  held  to  be  the  originators  of  the  scheme.  And 
no  one  who  knew  this  noble  man  would  venture  to  deny 
him  a  first  place  in  every  good  and  holy  work. 

Those  were  sublime  days — those  days  so  full  of  anxiety. 
Every  one  was  carried  away  and  raised  above  himself  by 
the  universal  enthusiasm.  I  too,  was  elevated  by  it, 
though  I  cannot  claim  to  have  been  worthy  of  the  pure 
and  noble  spirits  who  surrounded  me.  I  lived  in  the 
house  of  the  brothers  Xicolovius,  who  laboured  with 
every  power  of  mind  and  body  for  the  welfare  of  their 
fatherland.  I  was  much  also  in  the  house  of  a  friend  of 
my  youth,  in  whose  company  I  had  made  many  pleasant 
expeditions  on  the  Danube,  to  Vienna  and  Hungary, 
fifteen  years  before.  Dr.  Wilhelm  Motherby,  at  whose 
house  assembled  the  flower  of  the  younger  men,  his 
brothers  the  IMotherbys,  Friccius,  Von  Fahrenheit,  Von 
Bardeleben,  and  others,  who  did  not  fail  their  country  in 
the  hour  of  need.  I  was  even  more  at  home  in  another 
house,  spending  most  of  my  evenings  at  Baron  von 
Schrotter's,  the  husband  of  one  of  the  Dohna  sisters. 


^T.  43.]  Scheffner.  249 


There  resided  the  beautiful  Julie  Scharnhorst,  Grafiii 
Friedrich  zu  Dohna,  the  inheritor  of  her  father's  intel- 
lect. She,  radiant  with  youth,  beauty,  and  high-minded- 
ness,  was  a  fit  queen  to  inspire  us.  At  this  house  the 
Dohnas  often  assembled,  and  every  one  who  was  dis- 
tinguished for  excellence,  learning,  or  courage.  I  had 
also  much  intercourse  with  a  member  of  the  council  of 
war,  Scheffner,*  a  handsome,  amiable  old  man,  whose 
character  had  been  formed  by  the  Seven  Years'  War  and 
its  consequences,  once  the  friend  of  Hamann,  Kant,  and 
Hippel,  famed  for  his  wit  and  vivacity,  sparks  of  which 
were  still  visible.  It  is  said  that  the  above-named  and 
many  others,  whose  writings  are  the  glory  of  Prussia, 
stole  very  industriously  from  his  flower-beds.  Scheffner's 
was  one  of  those  minds  w'hich  require  conversation  and 
society  to  strike  sparks  from  them,  which  can  produce 
but  little  in  solitude.  He  w^as  an  original  genius. 
He  was  still  the  centre  of  a  small  circle,  and  his 
mind  was  clear,  though  he  w^as  of  a  very  great  age.  It 
was  not  his  wit  alone  which  was  admired,  his  honesty 
and  good  sense  also  called  forth  the  esteem  of  all  good 
men. 

Here  also  I  came  across  two  very  remarkable  people, 

*  Johann  Georg  Scheffner,  bom  at  Kcinigsberg,  1736  ;  joined  the  army 
in  the  Seven  Years'  "\Vai-,  but  continued  still  to  devote  much  time  to 
literary  pursuits.  Forced  by  a  severe  wound  to  leave  the  amiy,  he  obtained 
a  post  in  the  council  of  war  in  Gumbinnen,  and  here  applied  himself  so 
earnestly  to  his  duties,  that  he  discovered  many  errors  and  defects  in  the 
arrangement  of  affairs,  which  he  exposed  so  boldly  that  he  received  his 
dismissal,  Frederick  II.  himself  refusing  to  allow  him  a  pension.  From 
that  time  he  lived  in  a  private  station  in  intercourse  with  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  his  time  until  his  death.  His  works  were  numerous, 
though  now  much  forgotten. 


250  Life  of  ArndL  [a.d.  1813. 

one  of  whom  I  had  met  already  in  the  camp;  but  the 
other,  whose  sad  death  perhaps  in  a  measure  influenced 
my  own  destiny,  I  met  here  for  the  first  time.  I  mean 
Gustav  von  Barnekow,  and  August  von  Kotzebue.  The 
first  was  the  cause  of  some  trouble  to  me,  the  second  of 
far  heavier. 

The  father  of  this  Gustav  von  Barnekow  I  had  known 
well.  He  lived  at  Teschvitz,  not  far  from  Gingst  in 
Riigen,  a  fine  old  man,  full  of  energy  and  obstinacy, 
imbued  with  all  the  aristocratic  prejudices  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  but  still  possessing  many  excellent  qualities,  which 
were  not  shared  by  most  of  his  connections  in  Riigen. 
He  was  no  friend  of  mine. 

The  son  had  distinguished  himself  first  in  the  service 
of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  afterwards  in  the  Prus- 
sian army,  in  the  winter  campaign  of  1 807,  but  was  dis- 
missed with  a  handsome  sura  of  money ;  the  French 
having  demanded  that  he  should  be  given  up  to  them, 
on  account  of  his  having  hissed  and  hooted  some  French 
marshals  on  their  coming  into  the  theatre  at  Konigs- 
berg.  In  1809  he  fought  under  ^the  Austrian  standard 
as  a  volunteer,  retiring  into  Pomerania  and  Mecklen- 
burg in  the  peaceful  years  between  1809  and  18 12. 
There  he  was  arrested  by  Davoust — silence  not  being 
one  of  his  virtues — and  very  narrowly  escaped  a  French 
bullet,  by  means  of  the  intercession  and  well-filled  purse 
of  one  of  his  father's  friends.  Baron  von  Stenglin. 

I  had  been  slightly  acquainted  with  him  in  the  camp 
at  Smolensk,  but  had  never  visited  him  at  home.  He 
was  a  thorough  soldier  in  appearance,  tall  and  well- 
made,  with  the  most  magnificent  eyes  and  brow,  and 


^T.  43.]  Giistav  Barnckozu.  ^5  ^ 


easy  animated  manners;  full  of  wit  and  talent,  but  a 
thorough  hussar  ;  and  he  left  his  tongue  so  entirely  un- 
controlled that  if  he  had  not  proved  his  courage  by  his 
deeds,  one  would  have  supposed  him  nothing  but  a 
quarrelsome  braggart. 

This  Gustav  Barnekow  became  the  best-known  Ger- 
man in  Russia.  In  the  battle  of  Borodino  he  com- 
manded two  detachments  of  Cossacks,  and  so  inspirited 
them  by  his  personal  bravery  that  they  held  their  ground 
in  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  and,  carried  away  by  his  wild 
courage,  effected  a  fearful  slaughter  on  two  French 
regiments.  ^Most  of  them,  however,  fell  in  the  battle, 
and  their  leader  himself  was  found  on  the  field  covered 
with  wounds.  His  reputation  preceding  him,  he  was 
brought  to  be  nursed  and  healed  at  Rostopchin's  castle 
near  IMoscow,  and  afterwards  moved  to  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Twer,  the  residence  of  Katherina  von  Olden- 
burg, daughter  of  the  Czar,  and  afterwards  the  univers- 
ally beloved  Queen  of  Wurtemberg. 

He  figured  in  all  the  Russian  newspapers  as  a  miracle 
of  personal  strength  and  courage ;  he  was  as  strong  as 
a  lion  ;  and  the  enthusiasm  concerning  him  rose  to  such 
a  pitch  that  subscriptions  were  made  in  St.  Petersburg 
for  the  wounded  German  knight !  As  they  could  not 
find  him  to  give  him  the  money,  for  he  had  gone,  half 
recovered,  to  Poland,  they  gave  the  sum  the}-  had  col- 
lected to  Stein,  supposing  it  likely  that  he  would  meet 
him  somewhere  ! 

We  had  scarcely  arrived  at  Konigsberg,  when  one  fine 
evening  my  Barnekow  appeared  at  the  ^^linister's  tea- 
table.     He  came  hobbling  in  on  crutches,  for  during  his 


252  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

journey  in  Poland  he  had  been  upset  in  his  sledge,  and 
his  wounds  had  re-opened. 

Stein  scolded  him,  and  told  him  to  go  home  and  be 
quiet,  that  he  might  be  ready  for  the  spring  campaign 
and  he  gave  it  into  my  charge  to  see  that  he  was  ready 
It  was  easy  to  provide  him  with  doctors  and  surgeons, 
but  it  was  a  harder  matter  to  keep  the  wild  bird  quiet. 
On  leaving,  the  Minister  gave  him  part  of  the  money 
which  had  been  collected  for  him  ;  the  rest  I  was  to 
keep  until  he  was  well. 

Some  weeks  passed  away.  He  was  perfectly  recovered, 
and  received  the  remainder  'from  me  in  paper  accord- 
ingly. The  next  morning  it  was  lying  on  his  table  in 
thalers  and  friedrichs  d'or.  There  must  have  been 
altogether  about  three  thousand  thalers.  I  advised  him 
not  to  make  it  fly  too  fast.  He  laughed  and  answered, 
"  Friend,  a  pair  of  fine  horses  and  a  new  fit-out,  and  the 
rest  we'll  give  to  pleasure." 

A  few  days  after,  I  heard  that  Barnekow  had  been 
giving  a  splendid  ball  in  his  house — he  had  many  friends 
in  Konigsbcrg.  He  had  invited  a  hundred  people,  and 
it  must  have  cost  him  at  least  a  hundred  friedrichs  d'or, 
A  fortnight  had  scarcely  passed  when  I  received  a 
lamentable  letter  from  him,  begging  that  I  would  ad- 
vance him  a  hundred  friedrichs  d'or.  He  must  really 
have  it — his  honour  was  pledged !  However,  I  could 
not  redeem  his  honour. 

He  was  soon  on  the  wing  again,  and  I  did  not  hear 
any  more  of  him  till  the  news  arrived  of  the  success  of 
Czernicheff's  march  on  Cassel.  Barnekow  had  inter- 
cepted some  baggage  waggons  belonging  to  the  fugitive 


^T.  43.]  Kotzebue.  253 

King  Jerome,  and  his  share  of  the  spoil  amounted  to 
thirty  thousand  thalers,  with  a  part  of  which,  for  he  was 
generously  enough  disposed,  he  paid  his  own  and  his 
friends'  debts,  and  the  rest  he  soon  disposed  of. 

Barnekow  died  not  long  since,  a  major-general  in  the 
Prussian  army.  He  was  one  of  the  handsomest  men  I 
ever  saw,  and  at  first  I  thought  him  a  man  of  Bliicher's 
nature,  but  he  proved  to  be  only  the  Knight  with  the 
Stake  of  northern  mythology.  Like  him,  Barnekow 
should  have  been  tied  to  an  iron  stake,  and  only  set  free 
for  a  battle. 

Herr  von  Kotzebue*  came  to  Konigsberg  soon  after 
my  arrival,  and  afterwards  went  to  Germany  with 
General  von  Wittgenstein,  and  employed  himself  in 
Avriting  in  newspapers  like  myself  and  others.  I  could 
not  help  seeing  a  good  deal  of  him.  He  was  like  a  fly, 
settling  upon  everything,  and  he  came  a  great  deal  to 

*  August  Friedrich  Ferdinand  von  Kotzebue,  bom  in  Weimar  in  1761, 
very  early  displayed  remarkable  talents,  and  is  said  to  have  written  poetiy 
before  he  was  six  years  old.  After  studying  at  Jena  he  settled  as  an  advo- 
cate in  Weimar,  but  he  made  himself  so  unpopular  that  he  was  forced  to 
leave.  He  went  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  the  Empress  showed  him  favour, 
gave  him  an  important  post  and  ennobled  him.  His  plays,  which  he  pro- 
duced with  extraordinary  rapidity,  brought  him  immense  popularity,  and 
obtained  for  him  an  appointment  in  the  theatre  at  Vienna.  Revisiting 
Russia  in  iSoo,  he  was  arrested  on  the  frontier  and  sent  to  Siberia,  but  a 
drama  of  his  containing  a  eulogy  of  Paul  being  shown  to  that  Emperor,  he 
recalled  him  and  overwhelmed  him  with  favours.  His  vigorous  attacks  on  the 
French  despotism  obtained  for  him  Alexander's  favour,  and  after  the  peace 
he  was  sent  into  Germany  with  the  commission  of  supplying  the  Emperor 
with  constant  information  on  the  condition  and  public  opinion  of  Gennany. 
His  Russian  tendencies,  and  the  contempt  he  disj^layed  towards  the  patriotic 
enthusiasm  of  young  Germany,  were  the  cause  of  his  murder  at  Mannheim 
by  a  student,  Karl  Sand,  in  1S19.  His  writings,  which  are  very  numerous, 
are  full  of  a  false  sentiment  and  lax  morality. 


254  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 


Nicolovius  the   bookseller's,    with    whom  he  had  busi- 
ness, and  where  he  used  to  read  and  declaim. 

With  all  reverence  for  his  great  talents,  I  must  say  he 
had  a  very  mean  appearance  ;  in  fact,  he  was  one  of  the 
most  repulsive-looking  persons  I  ever  met  in  my  life. 
As  is  usually  the  case  with  a  man  whom  one  has  known 
only  through  his  writings,  I  had  figured  him  to  myself 
as  quite  different— at  least  as  a  highly-polished  courtier- 
like man — as  he  had  lived  so  long  in  the  noble  and 
elegant  Livonia.  But  he  did  not  aim  at  being  aristo- 
cratic and  elegant.  He  had  the  manners  of  a  boor, 
and  an  insolent  boldness  quite  different  from  natural 
openness,  or  that  which  skilful  men  of  the  world  adopt, 
and  in  his  twinkling  eyes  there  was  both  creeping 
cunning  and  shameless  sensuality. 

He  attacked  me  afterwards  in  his  writings,  and  it  was 
well  for  me  that  I  did  not  enter  upon  a  controversy  with 
him,  for  when  he  came  to  such  a  bloody  end  it  might 
have  been  laid  at  my  door. 

When  the  Russians  were  about  to  press  forward  into 
Germany,  he  attached  himself  to  Wittgenstein,  to  write 
the  bulletins  of  his  great  deeds,  and  the  manifestoes  and 
appeals  and  proclamations  of  German  liberty  during  this 
campaign.  For  half  a  year  he  wrote  these  bulletins  in 
his  usual  superficial  manner,  profaning  the  greatest  and 
noblest  sentiments  by  ill-timed  and  shameless  jocularity 
or  womanish  sentimentality,  and  wherever  he  touched 
upon  the  early  times  and  history  of  nations,  and  the 
events  and  circumstances  connected  with  them,  he  did  so 
with  such  ignorance  and  superficiality  that  one  was 
ashamed  to  acknowledge  him  a  German.    This  ignorance. 


JET.  43-]  *'■  Preiissische  Korrespondentr  255 

and  the  empty  foolish  insinuations  and  malicious  wit- 
ticisms with  which  this  foul  insect  \vas  always  bespat- 
tering the  great  and  holy  earnestness  of  the  times, 
enraged  us  all,  but  none  more  than  Niebuhr,"'  with  his 
sensitive  German  heart.  As  an  antidote  against  such 
baseness,  and  to  give  an  opportunity  for  speaking  and 
treating  worthily  of  such  worthy  subjects,  he  began  a 
newspaper  in  conjunction  with  his  friend  Georg  Reimer, 
in  Berlin,  the  superintendence  of  which,  as  he  was  soon 
called  away  to  higher  political  work,  passed  through 
many  hands  in  the  course  of  a  year  and  a  half. 

NiEBUHR  to  E.  M.  A. 

"Berlin,  April  15th,  1813. 

"  Amid  the  stupendous  events,  absorbing  all  your  thoughts, 
of  which  you  have  been  an  eye-witness,  you  will  scarcely  re- 
member that  our  common  friend  dear  Reimer  brought  you  to 
my  house  during  your  last  residence  in  our  town.  We  did  not 
become  intimate  ;  my  obscure  position  must  have  completely 
banished  me  from  your  memory,  but  since  then  I  have  learned 
to  know  you  better,  from  your  later  writings,  inspired  by  the 
late  great  events,  than  I  had  been  able  to  do  from  your  earlier 
ones.  You  have  called  manly  tears  into  many  thousands  of 
eyes,  and  every  one  prays — God  reward  you  ! 

"Perhaps  you  know  through  Reimer  that  since  April  ist,  I 
have  been  publishing  a  paper  at  his  house,  as  usual,  on  the 
most  brotherly  terms.  Perhaps  you  have  already  seen  the  ^ Preiis- 
sicJie  Korrespotident.^  It  cost  me  unheard-of  trouble  and  vexation 
before  I  could  get  permission  for  it,  but  at  last  it  has  been  wrung 

*  Berthold  Georg  Niebuhr,  the  well-known  historian,  was  the  son  of  the 
traveller,  Carsten  Niebuhr.  He  was  a  native  of  Copenhagen,  and  as 
Governor  of  the  Bank  there,  made  himself  a  reputation  which  obtained  for 
him  a  post  in  the  Prussian  Government.  After  the  peace  he  represented 
Prussia  at  the  Papal  Court,  and  was  then  appointed  to  a  professorship  at 
Bonn  University.  He  died  in  1831,  his  death  having  been  hastened  by  the 
political  troubles  of  the  time. 


256  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 


out  of  Herr  von  Hardenberg.  It  is  difficult  to  provide  novelty 
and  matter  for  such  a  paper,  till  time  shall  have  given  it  con- 
sistency, particularly  when,  as  is  the  case  here,  it  is  hindered 
in  every  way  by  most  of  those  in  authority,  partly  from  dislike 
to  the  author,  and  fear  of  displeasing  the  Chancellor  if  they 
should  help  me,  partly  from  their  connection  with  older  papers. 
You  know  what  our  officials  are  like,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few.  Even  those,  who  cannot  be  exactly  called  ill-disposed, 
sacrifice  everything  to  their  relations,  and  to  the  fear  of  their 
tutelary  divinities.  I  turn  to  you  with  the  request  that  with 
communications  and  information,  you  will  support  an  under- 
taking which  will  be  carried  on  according  to  your  views.  It  is 
the  more  worthy  your  support  as  it  is  an  antidote  to  Kotzebue's 
worthless  and  highly  injurious  paper,  upon  which  our  dull  public 
feeds,  and  thereby  thinks  itself  authorised  to  combine  a  varnish 
of  good  political  sentiments  with  inward  corruption. 

"Send  me  first,  for  the  sake  of  the  good  cause  itself,  and  then 
out  of  friendship  to  Reimer  and  his  family,  as  regularly  as  pos- 
sible, all  the  information  you  can,  the  publicafida,  and  all  the 
arrangements  of  the  Government  commission,  whose  chief  you 
accompany — and  any  interesting  and  important  information. 

"  I  think  if  we  were  acquainted,  you  would  so  give  me  your 
friendship  that  you  would  do  it  for  my  sake. 

"  Reimer  is  going  with  the  Landwehr,  and  as  almost  all  the 
profits,  if  there  are  any,  will  go  to  him,  and  the  book  trade  is 
totally  at  a  stand  still,  whoever  helps  the  paper  on  to  its  legs  is 
helping  our  friend's  family. 

"  Gneisenau  has  been  urgently  requested 
by  Eichhorn  to  send  us  regular  information.  Could  you  remind 
him  of  it,  and  particularly  beg  him  to  arrange  that  when  an 
officer  or  soldier  distinguishes  himself,  and  is  rewarded,  an 
exact  description  of  the  affair  may  be  supplied  to  our  paper,  as 
is  usually  done  in  the  Austrian  military  newspapers  ?" 

E.  M.  A.  to  NiEBUHR. 

'^Dresden,  April  24th,  1813. 
"  I  received  your  too  kind  letter  of  the  15th  of  April,  the  day 
before  yesterday,  on  my  return  from  Bliicher's  army,  after  a  six 


yET.  43.]  Leaves  Konigsberg.  257 

days'  journey.  You  may  perhaps  know  my  position  here,  i.e., 
connected  with  affairs,  but  not  ///  them 

"  I  have  some  paper  schemes  and  plans  in  my  head.  If  they 
corne  to  nothing  I  shall  take  the  sword,  and  shall  leave  it  to 
unwritten  words  and  unwritten  force  to  manage  affairs.  Then 
at  least  one  has  something  firm  and  secure  in  one's  hand.  .  .   . 

"As  for  your  flattering  commission,  I  am  always  the  last  to 
hear  anything  official,  if  I  have  not  some  work  to  do  in  it.  You 
know  what  Stein  is But  if  anything  remark- 
able comes  to  my  knowledge  in  this  least  remarkable  of  places, 
I  will  not  forget  your  good  cause.  The  ignorance  of  Kotzebue 
and  those  like  him,  and  hit  half-French  scoffing,  need,  indeed, 
a  powerful  antidote." 

I  left  Konigsberg  about  the  middle  of  the  month  of 
March.  The  winter  was  over,  I  may  say  unfortunately. 
In  a  little  carriage  with  one  servant,  without  any 
heavy  luggage,  and  with  four  post-horses,  I  was  obliged 
to  creep  along  at  a  snail's  pace  over  the  heavy  Prussian 
and  Polish  roads,  added  to  which  there  were  constant 
stoppages  for  want  of  horses,  and  the  horses  themselves 
were  over-driven.  I  was  forced,  too,  to  go  a  long  way 
round  to  the  north  of  the  fortress  of  Thorn,  which  was 
being  besieged,  and  the  thunder  of  the  cannon  reached 
my  ear  as  I  travelled.  It  was  then  that  I  became 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  Polish  household  arrange- 
ments. The  filth  in  the  streets  and  houses  was  perfectly 
indescribable.  I  was  reminded  of  a  story  which  is  told 
of  Marshal  Davoust  in  Kalisch  and  Breslau.  Late  in  the 
autumn  of  1S06  he  was  riding  before  the  town-hall, 
where  he  had  appointed  to  meet  the  Polish  magnates, 
and  as  he  dismounted,  sank  deep  in  the  mud.  He  turned 
to  one  of  the  German  officials  who  was  standing  near 

17 


258  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  18 13. 


him,  and  shaking  the  mud   from   his  boots,  remarked  : 
"  Voila  ce  que  cette  canaille  appelle  sa  patrie."     In  fact,  a 
man  must  see  and  feel  for  himself,  before  he  can  believe, 
the  savage  disorder  and  swinish  filthiness  of  the  Poles. 
It  is  Inconceivable  how  a  people  of  so  much  sprightliness 
and  with  such  a  taste  for  splendour  and  glitter  of  every 
kind  as  the  Poles,  can  sink  so  low.     Alas  !  it  is  but  a  type 
of  their  administration  and  government  for  centuries,  and 
explains   noble    Kosciusko's    words,     "  Finis    Poloniae." 
Everything  is  showy  and  defiled,  not  only  the   dwellings 
of  the  living,  but  also  the  dwellings  of  the  dead  and  the 
houses   of  God,  or  at   least  what  mortals  call  so.     How 
many  churchyards  have  I  seen  without  the  trace  of  a  wall 
or  fence,  where  cows  and  pigs  walk  about  over  the  graves 
at  pleasure  .''     In  the  wet  seasons  of  the  year  they  strew 
layers  of  straw,  one  upon  another,  in  the  churches,  so  that 
as  summer  approaches  it  sometimes  lies  to  the  depth  of 
some  feet,  as  in  badly-managed  cow-stalls,  and  requires 
cleaning  out  like  a  stable.     I  do  not  mean  by  this  com- 
parison  to   speak  slightingly    of   the    greater    political 
trouble.      But  it  is  enough  to  say  that  though  I  was 
travelling   at   a   bad   time   of    year,   and   when   it  was 
generally  raining,   I   was  almost  always  glad  to  leave 
the  rooms  and  stables  of  the  inhabitants  and  return  to 
my  cold  wet  seat.      I  was  only  travelling   in    a    light 
carriage  called  a  "  Holsteiner,"  which  I  had  bought  in 
Konigsberg,  and  which  left  me  a  prey  to  the  wind  and 
rain. 

In  the  meantime,  KutasofF,  who  had  been  hindered  by 
the  swamps  and  wastes  of  Lithuania,  had  passed  the 
Vistula  with  his  Russians,  and  the  Emperor  Alexander 


.5T.  43-]  Kalisch.  259 

had  gone  to  Breslau,  where  he  renewed  his  friendship  and 
alliance  with  the  King  of  Prussia.  The  King  had  issued 
his  manifesto  to  his  people  and  his  declaration  of  war 
with  France,  and  had  instituted  the  order  of  the  Iron 
Cross,  to  be  fought  for  in  this  war.  I  came  to  Kalisch 
in  the  last  week  of  March.  The  Emperor  and  the 
Minister  vom  Stein  were  already  there,  and  the  King  of 
Prussia  was  expected.  Travelling  on  to  Breslau,  my 
little  chaise  suddenly  met  the  carriage  of  his  Prussian 
^Majesty  going  to  visit  the  Emperor  at  Kalisch.  I  rose 
in  the  carriage  and  uncovered  my  head,  and  called  in  vain 
to  my  Polish  postilion  to  get  out  of  the  way.  The  King's 
carriage  was  within  an  inch  of  running  down  the  poor 
plebeian.  Had  we  come  into  collision,  what  a  ruin  he 
would  have  made  of  my  poor  little  conveyance  ! 


17—2 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   WAR   OF   LIBERATION. 

Dresden. — Kornei-'s  house. — Arming  the  people. — The  Central  Administra- 
tion.— Deaths  of  Kutasoff  and  Moreau.— Visit  to  Berlin  and  Riigen. — 
Death  of  Schamhorst. — At  Reichenbach. — The  armistice.  —  Leipzig 
after  the  battle. — Follows  the  advance  of  the  allies  to  Frankfort. — Abdi- 
cation of  Napoleon. 

I  STAYED  only  two  days  in  Breslau.  Travelling  on 
towards  Dresden,  and  about  two  hours'  distance  from 
Liegnitz,  one  of  those  chance  incidents  occurred  to  me 
which  make  a  deep  impression  at  the  time.  It  was 
night,  and  I  was  half  asleep,  when  suddenly  I  was 
aroused  from  my  dreamy  state  by  the  blare  of  trumpets. 
I  rubbed  my  eyes  and  saw  that  the  dawn  was  breaking, 
and  I  was  just  coming  out  of  a  great  fir-wood  into  open 
country,  while  by  a  cross  road  two  Russian  regiments  of 
Hussars  and  Cossacks  were  marching  past  with  flying 
colours.  I  had  to  wait  for  full  ten  minutes,  watching  the 
soldiers  and  considering  the  country  they  were  passing 
through,  and  as  with  the  rising  of  the  sun  I  shook  off"  my 
drowsiness,  a  dim  remembrance  rose  up  in  my  mind  that 
here  at  the  same  place,  by  this  fir  wood,  at  the  same 
time  in  the  morning,  I  had  watched  some  Saxon  and 
Polish  cavalry  march  past  the  year  before  with  very  dif- 


^T.  43.]  The  Elder  Korncr.  261 

ferent  feelings.  What  room  for  thought  such  coincidences 
supply !  Oh  !  if  Chazot  had  only  been  sitting  by  me,  with 
what  joy  would  he  have  greeted  this  dawn,  the  dawn  of 
liberty ! 

In  the  beginning  of  April  I  was  in  Dresden,  and  took 
up  my  quarters  at  the  house  of  Korner,*  member  of  the 
Court  of  Appeal. 

This  house  had  been  recommended  to  me  by  some  of 
Liitzow's  men,  with  whom  Korner's  son  was  serving.  It 
was  a  welcome  arrangement  both  to  the  Korners  and  to 
me.  I  was  with  people  of  German  sympathies,  and  they 
were  free  from  the  annoyance  and  expense  of  having 
wild  soldiers  quartered  upon  them.  I  took  some  tea 
there  every  morning,  but  generally  got  my  dinner  and 
supper  either  at  Stein's  table  or  at  an  inn. 

If  there  was  no  dinner  to  be  had  there,  there  was 
always  plenty  of  intellectual  food.  Korner  was  an 
eminent  man,  highly  educated  and  very  scientific,  equal 
in  knowledge  to  the  best  German  scholars,  and  superior 
to  most  in  faithful  devotion  to  his  country.  There 
was  food  here  for  both  head  and  heart.  Korner  had 
formed  a  friendship  for  the  youth  Schiller  at  his  first 
rise,  and  had  supported  and  protected  him  with  faith- 
ful help  and  counsel  during  his  first  years  in  Thuringia 
and   Leipzig.      His  son,*!-  now  in  the  Liitzow  uniform, 

*  "  I  have,  just  now,  quartered  in  my  house  a  very  pleasant  man,  the 
author  of  the  '  Spirit  of  the  Age,'  Ernst  Moritz  Arndt.  He  is  in  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Minister  vom  Stein,  and  wishes  to  live  near  him.  His  personal 
appearance  is  very  attractive,  and  I  promise  myself  much  enjoyment  from 
intercourse  with  him,  as  he  is  very  communicative." — Gottfried  Korner,  Dres- 
den, April  14,  1813.     Briefe  Familie  Korner,  Deutsche  Rundschau. 

t  Karl  Theodor  Korner,  the  young  poet-hero  of  the  Holy  War,  was 
born  at  Dresden  in  1 791.     He  made  his  first  appearance  as  a  poet  in  iSio, 


262  Life  of  Arndt.  [a-U-  i8i3- 


was  the  godson   of  Schiller   and  of  my  friend   Count 
Gessler.     He  himself  was  an  author. 

Soon  after  came  the  Minister  vom  Stein.  He  had 
been  named,  by  joint  consent  of  the  illustrious  monarchs, 
President  of  the  Russian  and  Prussian  Council  of  Ad- 
ministration of  the  affairs  of  Germany.  Two  men  of 
great  merit,  President  Schon  of  Prussia  and  Privy  Coun- 
cillor Niebuhr  of  Berlin,  were  associated  with  him  on  the 
part  of  Prussia.  Niebuhr  resigned  in  the  autumn,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Privy  Councillor  von  Rhediger,  from 
Silesia. 

Now  began  a  new  period  in  our  lives.  There  was  a 
new  pressure  upon  us — a  pressure  of  German  affairs  which 
sometimes  overwhelmed  Herr  vom  Stein  like  a  flood. 
He  well  understood  that  the  stone  which  he  wished  to 
roll  off  the  back  of  Germany  could  only  be  removed  by 
the  exertions  of  the  whole  nation,  and  that  every  one 
who  was  able  to  work  in  the  cause  must  exert  himself. 
He  had  already  corresponded  largely  on  the  subject 
with  England  and  Germany,  during  his  residence  in  St. 
Petersburg ;  for  intercourse  had  been  carried  on,  though 
in  a  very  imperfect  manner,  with  Germany,  by  the 
agency  of  messengers  to  Jassy,  and  so  up  the  Danube 


in  a  small  volume  called  "  Knospen,"  Avhich  excited  general  attention.  The 
next  year  he  went  to  Vienna  and  obtained  an  appointment  at  the  theatre, 
where  he  produced  several  plays,  which  were  received  with  rapturous 
applause.  His  love  of  his  country,  however,  induced  him  to  leave  Vienna 
and  his  bride  and  join  Ltitzow's  Jagers.  In  the  treacherous  attack  at 
Kitzen  during  the  armistice  he  was  severely  wounded,  but  recovered  only  ta 
fall  in  a  skirmish  at  Gadebusch.  He  was  buried  under  an  oak  at  Wobbelin, 
amidst  the  tears  of  his  comrades,  by  whom  he  was  greatly  beloved.  Many 
of  his  war-songs  are  well  known. 


/ET.  43.]  Slein  and  Count  von  Miinstcr.  263 

to  Vienna,  and   also  by  ships   which   conveyed    letters 
to  confidential   agents   on  the   coasts  of  the  Baltic.      I 
remember    transcribing    several    letters    which    he    ex- 
changed   with    the    Hanoverian    minister    in    London, 
Count  von  Munster.     Munster  expressed  himself  very 
coldly  and    cautiously    on    the    subject    of  arming   the 
people  ;    looking  at  things,  as  I   thought,  from  a  very 
aristocratic  point  of  view,  and  seeing  many  dangers  for 
the  future  in  such  an  armament.     But  Stein  answered 
that  he  would  rather  eat  dry  bread   in  the  hut  of  the 
meanest  German  peasant,  than  be  subject  to  the  most 
splendid  foreign  government.     Stein  trusted  in  the  faith 
and  steadiness  of  the  German  people,  and  he  was  not 
mistaken.     Still  he  was  very  far  from  believing  in  the 
socialist   and    anarchical  Utopias,  which  many  wrong- 
headed  people  have  attributed  to  him.     But  with  respect 
to  the  struggle  against  Napoleon,  he  could  and  did  point 
to  Spain  and  the  Tyrol.    In  Dresden  at  this  time  he  was 
surrounded  by  some  well-meaning  men  and  by  many  fools, 
some  of  them  well-meaning  enough,  but  not  daring  to 
hold  any  strong  opinions  of  their  own. 

If  anything  hindered  the  march  of  the  army  or  the 
arming  of  the  people,  or  if  the  great  results  which  were 
looked  for  from  the  union  of  Prussia  and  Russia  did  not 
show  themselves  as  soon  as  was  expected,  or  if  Stein 
himself  were  irritated  by  the  hindrances  and  delays  for 
which  neither  the  monarchs  nor  he  himself  were  to 
blame,  he  would  stop  the  mouths  of  questioners  shortly 
and  impatiently  with  the  words  :  "  Gentlemen,  what  do 
you  expect  from  mc  ?  I  am  no  god.  I  am  not  even 
the  Emperor  of  Russia,  nor  the  King  of  Prussia."     Yet 


264  Life  of  Arndi.  [a.d.  181 3. 

I  often  wondered  to  see  how,  with  all  his  vehemence,  he 
would  listen  with  much  patience  and  forbearance  to 
teasing  intrusive  fools,  if  they  only  meant  well  and 
sincerely. 

How  he  was  overwhelmed  with  letters,  petitions,  plans 
and    schemes  from   manv  would-be  deliverers  of  their 
country  any  one  can  imagine  who  remembers  what  times 
these  were.    Whatever  was  put  shortly  he  would  generally 
read,  and   make  notes  of  anything  it  contained  which 
might  be  worth  remembering,  and  then  he  would  tear 
it  up  and  burn  it  ;  for  he  hated  being  burdened    with 
many  papers.      But  if  it   was  lengthy  and    introduced 
with  a  long  preface,  he  mistrusted  it ;  his  own  love  of 
brevity  making   him  esteem   it,   generally  with  reason, 
mere  useless  theoretical  nonsense.     He  would  give  them 
to  me  sometimes  to  answer,  but  generally  only  to  read 
through.      Some   of  them   were  very  curious.     Among 
others,  a  Professor  Hauff,  or  Hauch,  who  had  once  been 
a  teacher  at  IMarburg,  and  afterwards,   if    I   remember 
right.  Professor  of  Mathematics   at    Ghent    (Geneva?), 
sent  a  plan  for  easily  overcoming  and  destroying  the 
French  army,   like   that  which  had   been    contrived    in 
Rostopchin's  time  in  Moscow.   This  was  nothing  less  than 
the  construction  of  a  magnetic  iron  Colossus,  of  a  pecu- 
liar make,  which  was  to  be  carried  in  front  of  the  German 
army,  and  which  was  to  attract  irresistibly  to  itself  all 
the  bullets  and  cannon  balls  of  the  enemy,  so  that  the 
German  soldier  might  march  uninjured  and  invulnerable 
under   its    protection    against   the   enemy.      There  was 
only  one  little  thing  forgotten,  how  this  great  thing  was 
to  be  moved  along  at  the  head  of  the  army  ?     I  made  a 


^T.  43.]  Goethe.  265 

little  collection  of  these  curious  documents,  which,  how- 
ever (together  with  some  of  my  books),  was  afterwards 
entirely  spoilt  by  sea-water. 

As  the  allied  armies  were  advancing-  over  the  Elbe 
into  Thuringia,  and  the  French  were  marching  on  from 
the  other  side,  Dresden  was  soon  crowded,  not  only 
with  the  strangers  who  had  business  there,  but  with 
fugitives  seeking  safety,  who  passed  some  little  time 
there,  and  then  went  over  the  mountains  into  Bohemia. 
Among  others  came  Goethe,  and  he  visited  several 
times  the  house  of  his  friend  Korner.  I  had  not  seen 
him  for  twenty  years  ;  his  stately  beauty  was  still  the 
same,  but  the  great  man  made  no  pleasant  impression 
on  me.  He  was  depressed,  and  had  neither  hope  nor 
joy  in  the  new  state  of  things.  Young  Korner  was 
present — a  volunteer  in  Liitzow's  Jagers,  and  his  father 
having  given  vent  to  some  of  his  feelings  of  hope  and 
enthusiasm,  Goethe  answered  :  "  Shake  your  chains  if 
you  will — the  man  is  too  great  for  you.  You  will  not 
break  them." 

I  was  very  industrious  during  my  month  at  Dresden, 
working  at  my  "Soldiers'  Catechism,"  and  revising  the 
third  part  of  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Age,"  for  which  I  had 
gathered  the  materials  at  Konigsberg. 

(The  second  part,  which,  as  has  been  mentioned  before,  had 
been  published  in  Sweden  and  in  London,  in  iSoS,  was  now 
slightly  altered  and  brought  out  in  Germany,  at  the  same  time 
as  the  third  part.) 

E.  :M.  a.  to  G.  Reimer. 

"Dresden?  April,  1S13. 
"The  manuscript  of  the   campaign  was  being  printed   in 


266  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

Ivonigsberg,  and  two  sheets  of  it  were  ready  (under  Nicolovius' 
superintendence),  when  the  printer  suddenly  declared  that  he 
could  not  finish  it  within  four  months.  So  there  it  is.  Now, 
because  he  is  close  by,  I  have  gone  to  Hofmann."  (Gruner  had 
already  been  in  correspondence  with  Lim  about  reprinting  the 
"  Spirit  of  the  Age."  Part  II.)  "The  history  of  the  campaign, 
with  two  additional  papers  printed  in  8vo.,  will  make  about 
twenty  or  twenty-five  sheets.  I  have  called  it  'The  Spirit  of 
the  Age.  Part  III.'  The  censor  cannot  let  it  pass  in  Berlin  ; 
in  Leipzig  probably  he  will  have  to.  If  Hofm.ann  will  not 
venture  on  it,  I  will  give  it  to  you,  and  you  will  give  me  what 
is  fair  for  it.  I  do  not  wish  to  make  a  profit  in  such  actions, 
but  I  have  been  living  on  air  for  nearly  two  years,  and  the 
Second  Part,  which  I  printed  in  Sweden,  at  my  own  expense, 
cost  me  seven  hundred  gold  thalers,  and  I  have  never  got  a 
penny  of  it  back.  As  far  as  I  was  concerned  it  failed.  I  must 
try  not  to  earn  quite  the  character  of  a  vagabond  in  my  fugitive 
life.  The  times  have  made  me  greatly  indebted  to  my  family, 
and  the  education  of  my  son  costs  me  two  hundred  thalers 
every  year. 

"  For  the  rest,  I  am  well,  and  am  busy  quill-driving.  When 
I  feel  that  there's  an  end  of  that  I  shall  take  to  arms.  Our 
Legionarii  are  to  be  pitied  ;  they  have  in  Count  Wallmoden  a 
brave  leader,  but  apparently  a  man  who  has  nothing  of  the  pro- 
found genius  by  which  alone  anything  can  be  effected  now.  I 
am  too  overworked  to  be  able  to  work  out  anything.  Tell  the 
excellent  Niebuhr  so.  He  might  insert  the  '  Song  of  the  Ger- 
man Fatherland,'  which  does  not  seem  to  me  a  failure." 

(Probably  written  from  Dresden  about  the  same  time.) 

"  I  cannot  undertake  the  editing,  because  I  have  all  kinds  of 
other  things  to  do,  and  I  am  not  quite  useless  to  Stein  here ;  a 
new  but  quite  as  revolutionary  '  Soldiers'  Catechism,'  I  have  had 
printed  in  Konigsberg,  which  will  soon  be  out.  Next  week  I 
will  send  you  some  more  'Soldiers"  Songs.' 

"  I  have  already  promised  some  one  here  a  little  collection 
to  print — these  I  could  send  you,  and  you  could  choose  the 
most  suitable.     As  soon  as  I  have  time  I  might  write  one  in 


^T.  43.]      "  Der  Gott,  dcr  Risen  zcachscn  Hess."  267 


Biblical  language  for  soldiers  and  peasants,  and  I  will  certainly 
think  about  it.  It  might  be  done  in  a  few  weeks'  time.  As 
time  goes  on,  perhaps  in  the  autumn,  we  will  have  some  fifty 
chapters  secretly  printed  for  the  German  people,  which  were 
written  in  very  simple  language,  at  Breslau  and  St.  Peters- 
burg." 

The  ■"  Soldiers'  Catechism,''  and  the  little  volume  of  "  Songs 
for  Soldiers  "  (Lieder  fur  Teutsche),  published  at  this  time, 
contain  all  the  most  famous  of  his  war-songs.  We  insert  here 
a  translation  of  the  principal  stanzas  of  "  Der  Gott  der,  etc., ' 
which  is  perhaps  the  most  spirited. 

Who  underground  the  iron  stored 

Cared  not  to  see  a  slave, 
Therefore  to  man  the  spear  and  sword 

Into  his  hand  He  gave. 
And  gave  therewith  the  valiant  mood, 

The  speech-tide  highly  raging, 
And  bade  him  shed  his  dearest  blood, 

And  die  the  battle  waging. 

Then  we're  but  Heaven's  own  will  and  way 

In  lionest  faith  maintaining, 
We  do  not  earn  a  tyrant's  pay 
/  Our  brother  men  by  braining  ; 

IJut  whoso  fights  for  sluggard  shame 

To  pieces  all  we'll  cleave  him. 

In  German  soil  and  German  name 

No  portion  will  we  leave  him. 

O  sacred  German  Fatherland, 

O  German  honour  true. 
To  thee,  revered  beloved  land, 

We  swear  our  faith  anew. 
We  hale  a  curse  on  caitiffs  all. 

To  feed  the  kite  and  crow. 
And,  like  old  Hermann  once,  we  call 

For  vengeance,  and  we  go. 

Now  roar  and  lighten  whatso  can. 

And  blaze  up  bright  and  clear  ; 
And  all  you  Germans,  man  by  man. 

To  gitard  your  homes  appear  ! 


258  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

Appear,  and  lift  your  hearts  on  high, 

And  lift  your  hands  to  heaven. 
And  man  by  man  in  chorus  cry, 

The  tyrant's  yoke  is  riven  \ 

In  the  selection  of  these  stanzas  we  have  followed  the 
authority  of  Dr.  Buchheim,  who  prints  these  only  in  his 
"Deutsche  Lyrik." 

Besides  this  we  may  mention  among  his  poems  of  this  period, 
^' Das  Lied  vom  Gneisenau," '•  vom  Schill "'  and  "vom  Feld- 
marschall,"  "Was  blasen  die  Trompeten/'  In  fact  nearly  fifty 
songs  were  written  during  this  year  of  renewed  hope.  "  I  have 
seen  and  experienced  great  things,"  he  writes,  "  and  may  well 
say  that  I  have  lived,  and  am  now  ready  to  depart  when  it 
pleases  God.  I  am  in  good  spirits.  There  is  a  germ  sown 
which  ail  the  blood  will  not  stifle,  nay,  to  which  blood  perhaps 
will  prove  the  most  quickening  charm.  This  is  a  never- 
ceasing  comfort  to  me.  Think  of  me  sometimes,  and  pray 
for  the  great  cause — the  cause  of  God.' 

E.  ^I.  A.  to  Reimer. 

"Dresden,  April  21,  1S13. 
"  Hofmann  is  haggling  in  all  kinds  of  ways,  which  does  not 
please  me.  So  will  you  do  it  ?  Write  to  me  about  it  as  soon 
as  possible.  There  will  be  two  books — 'Spirit  of  the  Age,' 
Part  II.,  somewhat  altered,  i.e.,  the  mistakes  and  ill-advised 
parts;  and  Part  III.,  containing,  a.  History  of  the  Russian 
War  and  its  consequences,  chiefly  as  it  concerned  the  people ; 
b.  What  have  the  great  powers  to  do  now?  e.  What  has  the 
German  nation  to  do  ?     I  think  it  may  be  useful  as  gunpowder  ! 

Perhaps  our  vom  St may  give  us  something  towards  the 

printing  of  it,  so  that  fifteen  hundred  copies  might  be  dispersed 
gratis.  Perhaps  not,  however.  In  any  case  we  must  print  at 
least  four  thousand  or  five  thousand  copies,  and  not  sell  too 
dear.     There  are  plenty  of  such  books  already.     In  Berlin  it 

will  not  pass  the  censorship  ;  in  Leipzig  it  must,  if  St puts 

his  imprimatur  on  it.     If  it    cannot  be  printed  as  it  is,  it  may 


^T.  43.]  Death  of  Kutasoff.  269 

die  !  I  make  no  conditions  with  you,  my  friend.  You  shall 
pay  me  when  you  please,  whatever  you  can,  as  an  honest  man; 
or,  if  I  am  not  alive,  my  son." 

\\'hile  we  were  in  Dresden  a  fortunate  circumstance 
occurred,  for  which  every  one  who  understood  the  matter 
returned  thanks  to  Heaven,  so  that  many  cried  out  : 
"  The  God  of  old  Germany  lives  still." 

On  the  23rd  of  April  the  old  Russian  Field-Marshal 
Kutasoff*  died  of  low  fever  at  Bunzlau  in  Silesia.  And 
I,  too,  when  I  heard  the  news,  said  :  "  This  is  the 
fineer  of  God."  The  old  man  was  a  Russian  of  the 
slow  and  obstinate  type.  He  had  gained  so  much 
power  and  authority  in  the  army,  that  even  Alexander 
himself  could  hardly  have  put  him  on  one  side.  He 
and  Stein  together  had  had  hard  work  to  bring  him 
across  the  Vistula.  He  had  wanted  to  remain  on  the 
other  side  till  the  summer,  and  then,  when  reinforced, 
advance.  But  what  then  would  have  become  of  Ger- 
many? He  had  indeed  advanced,  but  still  we  may  ask, 
what  would  have  become  of  Germany  and  Prussia  if 
Kutasoff  had  lived  ?  The  French  would  have  exhausted 
the  country  as  far  as  the  Vistula,  swallowing  up  with  cal- 
culating cruelty  the  last  resources  of  Prussia,  and  severing 
its  sinews,  so  that  a  Prussian  arming  would  have  been 
impossible.     And    then  what  would   Kutasoff  and   the 

*  Michael  Kutasoff,  born  in  1745,  and  educated  at  Strasburg,  dis- 
tingiiished  himself  in  the  Turkish  war,  where  he  made  himself  a  reputation 
for  skill  in  diplomacy  as  well  as  in  arms.  He  commanded  the  ist  Russian 
Corps  in  the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  and  held  the  supreme  command  in  the 
Turkish  war  of  iSii.  In  1S12  he  was  chosen  to  supersede  Barclay  de 
Tolly,  and  obtained  the  title  of  Prince  Smolenski  in  memory  of  the  gi'eat 
battle  of  Smolensk. 


Life  of  A  rndt.  [a.d.  i 8 i 3. 


Russians  have  done  without  the  help  of  the  Prussians 
when  all  the  fortresses  in  the  country  were  held 
by  French  garrisons.  Besides,  Kutasoff  did  not  like 
the  Germans.  He  was  exceedingly  rough  and  unamia- 
ble,  and  would  have  set  his  heavy  Muscovite  foot 
on  German  enthusiasm  wherever  it  was  aroused.  He 
could  never  endure  the  presence  of  an  equal  :  then  how 
could  Bliicher  have  risen  at  his  side  ?  But  after  his  death 
everything  went  smoothly.  Old  Bliicher,  unchecked, 
rose  by  his  own  power  ;  and  the  other  Russian  generals, 
Wittgenstein,  Barclay  de  Tolly,  Langeron,  and  the  rest, 
attracted  by  the  amiability  of  his  character,  did  not  feel 
themselves  cast  into  the  shade  by  him.  We  saw  the 
hand  of  God  in  this,  and  again  it  was  stretched  out  for 
the  help  of  Germany  in  the  battle  of  Dresden,  where  one 
of  the  first  shots  fired  by  the  French  cannon  carried  off 
both  the  legs  of  the  gallant  Moreau,*  and  brought  his  life 
to  a  close.  If  this  Frenchman  had  lived,  how  much  he 
would  have  interfered  in  our  affairs  in  the  council  of 
Alexander,  and,  pushing  himself  between  us  and  the 
French,  have  deprived  us  of  the  honour  and  value  of  our 
victories!     In    those  days  when  men  were  learning  to 

*  The  great  general  of  the  Republic,  Jean  Victor  Moreau,  was  bom  in 
1763,  joined  the  army  as  a  volunteer  in  1792,  and  displayed  such  striking 
military  capacity,  that  in  two  years  he  had  risen  to  the  rank  of  a  general  of 
division.  In  1796  he  held  the  command  of  the  French  army  on  the  Rhine 
with  which  he  penetrated  into  Germany  as  far  as  Ulm,  but  was  then  forced 
to  begin  a  retreat  which  he  conducted  in  such  a  masterly  manner  as  brought 
him  lasting  fame.  In  1799  he  served  in  Italy,  and  again  with  the  army  of 
the  Rhine,  iSoo,  won  the  great  victory  of  Hohenlinden.  Returning  to 
Paris  he  was  forced  to  yield  to  his  great  rival  Napoleon,  and  having  been 
accused  of  taking  part  in  the  conspiracy  of  Pichegiu  and  Cadoudal,  was 
condemned  to  two  years'  imprisonment,  which  was  afterwards  changed  to 
banishment.  He  went  to  the  United  States,  where  he  passed  several  years, 
and  in  181 3  joined  the  army  of  the  allies. 


^T.  43-]  Battle  of  Liitzcii.  271 

believe  and  hope,  we  thought  we  could  see  the  hand  of 
God  in  such  events.  Others  laughed  at  us  then,  and 
still  laugh  at  us  for  such  ideas. 

I  went  from  Dresden  to  the  Russian  and  Prussian 
head-quarters.  Stein  sent  me  with  some  confidential 
letters  to  Scharnhorst.  I  saw  the  admirable  man  again 
b\-  whom  and  by  whose  daughter  I  had  been  received 
so  kindly  and  familiarly  at  Breslau  and  Kudowa  the  year 
before.     The  head-quarters  were  at  Altenburg. 

The  month  of  ]\Iay,  18 13,  came,  and  on  the  3rd  we 
heard  indistinct  sounds  from  the  plains  round  Dresden, 
which  we  rightly  concluded  to  be  the  thunder  of  a  great 
battle.*  Soon  messengers  arrived.  The  battle  had  been 
honourably  contested,  but  our  side  was  defeated.  This 
meant  that  we  must  at  once  take  leave  of  Dresden. 

The  minister  went  eastwards  again  with  the  army 
which  crossed  the  Elbe.  I  was  sent  with  letters  and 
despatches  and  verbal  messages  to  his  friends  in  Berlin, 
and  from  thence  I  was  to  make  a  digression  to  Stral- 
sund  to  see  whether  the  Swede,  whom  we  had  been 
looking  for  so  long,  was  not  at  length  crossing  the  water 
in  force.  I  was  now  for  eight  days  again  in  my  island  of 
Riigen,  where  I  saw,  after  two  long  \-ears,  my  brother 
Fritz,  and  my  boy,  now  eleven  years  old,  who  was  living 
with  him.  As  I  was  coming  over  the  water  one  fine 
spring  evening  by  moonlight  from  Riigen  to  Stralsund, 
six  Swedish  vessels,  which  had  just  arrived  bringing 
some  regiments,  were  lying  in  the  roads.  As  eight 
o'clock  sounded  from  the  towers  of  the  city,  there  was  a 
roll  of  drums  on  board  each  ship  at  once  (an  old  Swedish 

*  The  battle  of  Liitzeru 


2/2  Life  of  Ariidt.  [a.d.  1813. 

custom),  and   over  the  water  came  the  words  of  Paul 
Gerhard's    beautiful    evening   hymn,   "  Nun    ruhen    alle 
Walder  ;"  a  quiet,  impressive,  and  expressive  touch  of 
humanity  in  the  midst  of  the  roar  of  the  waves  and  the 
tumult  of  war. 

I  did  not  stay  here  long,  but  hurried  back  to  Berlin. 
In  the  meantime,  battles  had  been  fought  with  Napoleon, 
bravely  contested,  but  doubtful  ;  nevertheless,  the  news 
of  our  losses  did  not  dishearten  us.  People  were  excited 
to  the  highest  pitch.  "  Let  us  suffer  rather  the  last 
extremity  ;  let  us  endure  death  itself  rather  than  bear 
the  chains  of  slavery  any  longer."  Such  was  the  uni- 
versal feeling  and  the  unanimous  cry  in  the  capital. 
There  was  want  and  misery  enough,  but  joy  and  hope 
with  it  all,  and  a  community  of  true  hearts,  such  as  can 
only  be  found  in  such  times.  I  lived  among  dear  friends, 
in  the  society  of  great  and  noble  men,  who  accepted 
my  will  for  the  deed.  Savigny  and  Eichhorn*  were  on 
the  committee  of  the  Landwehr.  Suvern  was  exercising 
his  company,  and  afterwards  his  regiment,  of  Landsturm 
on  the  Wilhelm  Platz.  Fichte  kept  sword  and  spear 
standing  always  ready  for  himself  and  his  son,  who  was 
a  mere  boy,  hardly  fit  to  bear  arms.  They  had  wanted 
to  make  him  an  officer  in  the  Landsturm,  but  he  refused, 
saying  :  "  Here  I  am  only  fit  to  be  among  the  common 
people." 

*  J.  A.  F.  Eichhorn,  bom  1779,  entered  the  Prussian  service  in  1800. 
He  distinguished  himself  by  his  activity  in  organising  the  Landwehr  in 
181 3,  and  joined  the  army  himself  as  a  volunteer.  After  the  battle  of 
Leipzig  he  joined  Stein,  and  wrote  an  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Council  of  Administration  for  the  affairs  of  Germany.  At  the  peace  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Coimcil  of  State,  and  afterwards  Minister  of  Edu- 
cation. He  retired  with  the  rest  of  the  ministry  in  1848,  and  from  that  time 
took  little  part  in  public  affairs. 


^T.  43.]  Reil.  273 

This  man  was  always  in  earnest  in  everything.  He 
suffered  in  his  feet,  I  think  from  gout  ;  but  he  said  :  "  I 
know  I  shall  never  do  great  things,  but  I  will  never  set 
the  example  of  flight.  The  enemy  shall  only  enter  the 
city  over  my  body,"  He  was  strangely  cheerful,  bright 
and  amiable  at  that  time,  and  it  seemed  as  if  his  pious 
mind  had  found  in  his  love  for  his  people  and  his 
country  the  bridge  by  which  he  could  pass  from  his  ideal 
/  to  the  not  I. 

I  saw  him  a  great  deal  at  that  time  in  his  own  house, 
and  among  friends.  He  and  Reil  were  perhaps  the 
most  dramatic  figures  of  the  capital,  from  the  fire  of 
their  enthusiasm,  and  the  burning  hatred  which  Reil, 
almost  more  than  Fichte,  bore  to  the  French.  Reil,  a 
noble  East  Frieslander,  was  a  man  of  the  most  passionate 
nature,  which  showed  itself  in  his  splendid  form,  and 
sparkled  in  his  god-like  eyes,  I  became  intimate  with 
him,  being  introduced  by  a  beloved  friend,  Friedrich 
von  Scheele,  brother  of  the  present  Hanoverian  minister, 
and  many  evenings  have  I  spent  in  his  amiable  family, 
when  he  would  pour  out  his  fancies  about  Man  and 
Nature,  while  excitedly  puffing  at  his  tobacco  pipe, 

I  remember,  as  if  it  happened  to-day,  meeting  him 
walking  unter  den  Linden,  when  the  people,  running  to- 
gether, began  to  talk  of  the  news  which  had  just  arrived, 
that  an  armistice  had  been  concluded  (it  was  concluded 
on  the  4th  of  June),  He  stood  as  if  thunderstruck, 
turned  as  white  as  if  he  were  going  to  faint,  then  pressed 
my  hand,  while  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  Yes, 
it  was  terrible  news,  and  made  many  feel  doubtful  and 
insecure.      Soon  after  came  the  disaster  of   Hamburg, 

18 


2/4  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S13. 

which  might  so  easily  have  been  prevented.  Then,  in 
the  very  middle  of  the  truce,  the  shameful  attack  upon 
the  Liitzowers,*  when  the  French  amused  themselves 
with  exciting  the  Wurtembergers  to  an  act  of  atrocity 
against  their  own  brothers,  stigmatising  them  as  brigands 
noirs.  Then  another  message  of  evil,  which  was  a  heavy 
blow  to  the  hearts  of  all  the  good  and  brave.  Scharn- 
horst  had  died  at  Prague  of  a  wound  which  he  had 
received  at  the  battle  of  Gross  Gorschen.  When  I  saw 
him  with  it  bound  up  at  Dresden,  it  had  seemed  to  me 
very  slight. 

CouxTESS  Julie  Dohna-Scharnhorst  to  E.  M.  A. 

"  Finkenstein,  Prussia,  July  20th,  1813. 
"  My  warmest  thanks  for  the  many  proofs  of  your  friendship. 
How  much  I  have  lest  in  my  father,  no  one  knows.  He  was 
the  tenderest  of  fathers,  and  my  most  intimate  friend.  ]My 
perfect  earthly  happiness  is  past  I  do  not  murmur  against 
God.  I  have  been  till  now  too  happy,  and  loved  life  too  much. 
As  to  the  loss  which  the  good  cause  will  suffer  through  his 
death,  I  am  not  anxious.  When  God,  at  such  a  moment  as 
the  present,  takes  such  a  man  to  Himself,  there  is  some  great 
reason  for  it,  before  which  we  must  bow,  though  we  cannot 
grasp  it.  This  firm  faith  gives  me  the  best  consolation.  One 
of  my  greatest  and  rarest  pleasures  will  be  to  have  a  few  words 
from  you  from  time  to  time.  I  honour  and  esteem  few  like 
you.  Intercourse  with  you  has  had  a  lasting  and  beneficial  in- 
fluence on  Fritz  and  myself  Your  little  godson,  Balduin,  is  a 
healthy,  good-tempered  child,  and  Adelbert,  too,   is  very  well 

*  The  French  pretended  that  the  armistice  did  not  apply  to  such  irregular 
troops  as  Llitzow's  Jagers  ;  and  the  Liitzow  cavaliy,  nearly  a  fortnight  after 
the  amiistice  was  signed,  was  attacked,  when  quite  unprepared,  by  a  greatly 
superior  force  of  French  and  Wllrtembergers,  and  almost  entirely  destroyed. 
The  leader  of  the  ^Vurtemberger3  afterwards  went  over  to  the  allies  in  the 
midst  of  the  battle  of  Leipzig. 


/ET.  43.]  ReicJienhach.  275 


again  after  his  illness.  I  wrote  to  you  in  the  beginning  of  May, 
at  Dresden,  enclosing  my  letter  to  my  father,  but  it  seems 
you  never  received  it.  With  the  most  cordial  friendsliip  and 
esteem, 

"Julie  Dohna."* 

This  sad  event  wrung  from  my  heart  a  song,  which  I 
had  printed  in  Berlin  and  took  with  me  to  Reichenbach, 
w^here  Stein,  who  was  much  pleased  with  it,  had  several 
thousand  copies  printed,  and  sent  them  to  our  friends. 
I  reached  him  at  Reichenbach,  with  this  song,  about  the 
beginning  of  July — I  think  it  was  the  4th  or  6th.  Here, 
in  and  around  Reichenbach,  was  now  the  chief  camp,  at 
least  the  diplomatic  camp.  The  emperors,  kings,  and 
field-marshals  of  the  allied  armies  were  quartered  at  dis- 
tances of  about  ten  or  twelve  miles  round  in  Bohemia 
and  Silesia.  The  Emperor  Francis  of  Austria  had 
drawn  nearer,  though  he  had  not  yet  joined  the  Russo- 
Prussian  alliance.  He  was  making  his  preparations  ; 
by  his  mediation  negotiations  were  carried  on  with 
Napoleon,  and  if  possible  Germany  was  to  be  set  free 
from  the  French  yoke  by  means  of  these  negotiations. 
The  Prussians  trusted  Austria  little,  the  Emperor  Francis 
less,  Metternich  least  of  all  ;  thus  a  heavy  storm-cloud 
brooded  gloomily  over  the  heads  and  hearts  of  men. 

Here,  then,  I  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  a  confused 
crowd,  and  had  some  trouble  to  get  shelter  anywhere  in 
the  town,  for  all  quarters  were  seized  upon  and  occupied. 
However,  it  was  summer,  and  at  last  I  found  a  lodging 
with  the  night  watchman  of  the  town,  in  a  long  room  on 
the  town  wall,  with  a  sort  of  bed  of  boards,  a  broken 

■*  "Nothgedrungener  Bericht,"  pt.  ii.  p.  i8S. 

IS— 3 


2/6  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S13. 

table,  and  a  couple  of  almost  seatless  rush  chairs.  Yet 
at  that  time  this  was  good  luck,  when  one  knew  what  a 
miserable  little  room  in  a  small  inn  Niebuhr  had  for 
himself  and  his  wife. 

A  friend  of  Nicbuhr's,  Herr  von  Savi^nv,  came  to 
Reichenbach  to  see  how  things  were  going,  and  to  make 
Stein's  acquaintance.  He  saw  me,  and  thought  that  I, 
as  a  bachelor,  must  be  able  to  let  him  sleep  for  a  couple 
of  nights  in  my  room.  I  showed  him  my  cabin  and  its 
furniture,  and  told  him  how  during  my  journeys  in  Poland 
I  had  learned  to  sleep  soldier-fashion.  However,  I  had 
the  morning  sun  on  my  two  windows,  and  the  finches 
and  sparrows  chattered  and  sang  to  me  from  the  walls, 
and  a  beautiful  rich  country  lay  before  me.  Afterwards 
I  moved  to  the  house  of  a  nobleman,  Count  Karl  von 
Gessler,  formerly  Prussian  ambassador  in  Dresden,  and 
now  captain  of  the  Silesian  Landsturm  in  this  district. 

Here  I  printed  my  "  Soldiers'  Catechism."     I  do  not 

'  know  whether  it  ever  inspired  any  one  to  battle.     The 

French  had  written  the  right  catechism  for  that  purpose 

in  red  ink.    But  I  know  it  has  comforted  many  a  wounded 

man  in  the  hospitals,  and  that  has  comforted  me. 

During  the  armistice  a  congress  was  held  here  at 
Reichenbach,  and  at  Schloss-Gitschin  in  Bohemia — a 
congress  which  caused  us  terrible  anxiety,  and  which 
was  expected  to  reduce  to  order  the  confusion  of  Europe. 
Napoleon  was  at  this  time  in  Dresden.  I  have  spoken 
of  terrible  anxiety,  for  many  were  afraid  that  Napoleon, 
having  on  his  side  the  advantage  of  unity — a  great  ad- 
vantage in  nesrotiation — would  make  use  of  it  to  obtain 
by  cunning  what  he  could  not  obtain  by  force  of  arms. 


^T.  43-]  Stein  at  Rcichenbach.  277 

We  suffered  a  great  deal  of  anxiety  and  discontent,  often 
bitter  vexation,  when  we  read  in  the  newspapers  pleasant 
anticipations  of  a  speedy  peace.     My  old  master  was 
often  not  only  out  of  temper,  but  very  savage,  besides 
being  tormented  with  gout,  and  it  rebounded  upon  me 
and  his  other  subordinates.     I  had  by  this  time  reached 
a  footing  of  great  familiarity  with  Stein — I  felt  that  he 
liked  me.     I  was  by  nature — thank  God — too  stubborn 
to  be  easily  disconcerted.     Stein  was  sometimes  vehe- 
ment with  me,  as  with  others,  but  only  once,  and  that 
was  here  in  Reichenbach,  was  he  rude  to  me.     I  came 
to  him  early  one  morning,  about  six  o'clock  (he  used  to 
rise  early),  with  a   paper   in  my  hand,   and   found   his 
carriage  with  a  pair  of  horses  and  a  postilion  waiting 
before  the  door.     I  went  without  ceremony  up  the  steps 
as  usual,  and  gave  him  the  paper,  and  then  :  "  What  are 
you  disturbing  me  so  early  for  ?     I  have  no  time.     Go  ! 
the  trash  can  wait !"     And  I  went,  saying  :  "  Your  Ex- 
cellency ordered  me  to  be  quick  with  the  trash !     You 
said,  *  Do    it  quickly  ! — quickly  !' "      I   went   down   the 
steps  again,  and  Xiebuhr,  whom   I  found  with  him,  fol- 
lowed me  immediately,  looking  very  red,  and  comforted 
me,  saying,  "  He  has  been  rude  to  me,  too."      Stein, 
however,  was  going  that  morning  to  Gitschin  ;  A\hen  I 
saw  him   again   a  day  or  two  after,  he  asked   for  the 
"  trash"  with  which  he  had  sent  me  off  so  shortly,  saying, 
"  You  know  me  ;  the  day  before  yesterday  I  was  plagued 
with  gout,  and  with  the  evil  from  which  we  are  all  suffer- 
ing ;  I  had  to  see  emperors  and  kings,  and  Hardenberg 
and  Metternich."     Then  he  stroked  my  cheek  kindly, 
which  was  his  way  of  caressing ;    when  he  ^\•as  over- 


2/8  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813 


flowing  with  kindness  towards  any  one,  he  would  kiss 
him  on  the  forehead. 

The  only  source  of  pleasure  in  this  gloomy  time  was 
the  news  of  the  victory  at  Vittoria,  where  Wellington 
chased  the  French  army  over  the  Pyrenees,  and  cap- 
tured the  whole  of  their  baggage  and  artiller>'.  We 
rejoiced  at  Vittoria  as  if  it  were  our  own  victory,  hoping 
soon  to  emulate  it.  The  name  of  Wellington  always  fills 
me  with  gratitude.  How  many  joyful  days  and  nights 
has  he  won  for  me,  and  how  did  he  help  me  and  others 
to  bear  the  hard  years  18 10  and  181 1  ! 

There  were  many  men  of  importance  here  who  treated 
me  with  kindness,  but  they  all  suffered  more  or  less  from 
the  same  cause  which  made  Stein  ill.  For  instance  there 
was  little  pleasure  in  Niebuhr's  society,  especially  as  his 
wife  was  very  delicate,  and  once  there  was  very  nearly  a 
quarrel  between  him  and  Stein,  which  Herr  von  Schon 
smoothed  over.  Among  other  distinguished  men  who 
came  and  went  at  this  time  vvcre  the  Corsican,  Pozzo  di 
Borgo  ;*    Stadion  ;t    the    Saxon    fugitives,  Thielemann, 

*  Carlo  Andrea,  Count  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  born  1768,  was  sent  as  deputy 
for  Ajaccio  to  the  National  Assembly  in  1791,  but  having  fallen  under  sus- 
Ijicion  in  Paris,  he  returned  to  Corsica  and  joined  himself  to  the  party  of 
Paoli.  From  that  time  he  showed  himself  the  deadly  enemy  of  his  fellow- 
countryman.  Napoleon.  English  influence  upheld  him  for  a  time,  but  he  was 
at  last  obliged  to  leave  Corsica.  Travelling  from  country  to  countiy,  he 
did  his  utmost  to  stir  up  a  feeling  against  Napoleon,  who  in  1809  de- 
manded his  surrender  from  Austria,  where  he  was  then  residing.  He  fled 
to  Constantinople  and  Syria.  In  1812  he  was  called  to  St.  Petersburg,  and 
entered  the  Russian  service.  After  the  capture  of  Paris  he  was  a  member 
of  the  provisional  government,  and  endeavoured  to  persuade  Louis  XVIII. 
to  adopt  liberal  measures.  After  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  where  he  was 
slightly  wounded,  he  was  made  Russian  ambassador  in  Paris,  and  continued 
in  favour  with  the  Czar  Nicholas. 

+  Johann  Philipp,   Count  von  Stadion,  born  in  1763,  served  as  imperial 


^T.  43-]  Life  at  ReicJicnhacJi.  279 

Carlowitz,  Aster,*  and  the  famous  Prussian  generals, 
Bliicher,  Gneisenau,  and  Grolmann.-|-  It  was  like  a  camp, 
a  wild,  disorderly,  and  often  very  uncomfortable  life.  In 
the  meantime  I  found  a  number  of  young  men,  with 
whom  I  often  met  in  the  town,  or  in  neighbouring  vil- 
lages, such  as  the  Herrnhut  village  of  Gnadenfrei.  There 
was  Max  von  Schenkendorf,j  with  whom  I  first  made 
acquaintance  here ;  Theodor  Korner,  who  had  escaped 
with  a  bad  wound  from  the  sabres  of  the  Wurtembero-ers. 
and  was  spending  some  weeks  with  Count  Gessler,  his 
godfather ;  Karl  Sack,  my  present  Bonn  friend.  Count 
Karl  von  der  Groben,  and  sometimes  the  wild  genius 
Von  der  Marwitz. 

Among  these,  Count  Gessler  was  the  only  one  whose 
society  I  thoroughly  enjoyed.     He  had  been  a  friend  of 


ambassador  at  various  courts,  and  was  an  active  opponent  of  Napoleon. 
After  the  Peace  of  Presburg  he  became  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  but 
was  forced  to  give  place  to  Melternich.  Recalled  in  1812,  he  was  influential 
in  procuring  the  adhesion  of  Austria  to  the  alliance. 

*  Three  of  the  principal  Saxon  generals,  who,  after  the  refusal  of  the 
King  of  Saxony  to  give  up  the  French  alliance,  resigned  their  commands 
and  joined  the  allies. 

t  Karl  Wilhelm  Georg  von  Grolmann  entered  the  army  in  his  fourteenth 
year,  and  served  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war  of  1806.  In  1809  he  joined  the 
Austrian  army  ;  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war  in  Germany,  he  betook  himself 
to  Spain,  but  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French  at  the  capture  of  Valencia. 
Having  ransomed  himself,  he  went  to  Jena  and  entered  himself  at  the 
university  under  the  name  of  Von  Gerlach.  In  1S13  he  rejoined  the 
Prussian  army,  and  fought  through  the  campaign  until  the  peace.  He  was 
afterwards  made  Minister  of  War,  but  resigned  in  1819,  being  discontented 
with  the  conduct  of  the  Government. 

X  F.  G.  Max  von  Schenkendorf,  the  poet,  born  at  Tilsit,  1784.  He 
belonged  to  the  romantic  school,  and  was  much  under  the  influence  of 
Novalis  and  Jung  Stilling.  His  wife  was  a  friend  of  Frau  von  Kriidener. 
In  1813,  however,  he  joined  the  army,  and  wrote  many  spirited  songs  of  the 
war. 


28o  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

Stein  in  his  youth,  and  had  great  influence  over  him  ; 
and  though  they  sometimes  quarrelled,  he  generally 
ended  by  putting  him  into  a  good  temper.  Gessler  had 
wonderful  self-command,  though  he  was  naturally  of  a 
very  stormy  temper,  and  continually  tormented  with 
gout.  He  understood  the  most  difficult  of  all  arts,  that 
of  keeping  himself  outwardly  serene  when  inwardly  over- 
whelmed with  gloom.  But  the  best  of  it  was  that  his 
particular  kind  of  wit  served  as  a  whetstone  to  Stein's, 
and  continually  drew  forth  sparks  from  the  latter.  He 
had  property  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  the  Saxon 
generals  and  others  were  staying  at  his  estate  at  Neuen- 
dorf, about  an  hour's  distance  from  Reichenbach.  He 
soon  released  me  from  the  watchman's  nest,  v/here  I  had 
had  to  roost  like  a  hen. 

We  all  had  plenty  of  leisure — most  of  us  too  much — 
and  the  doubtful  and  shifting  state  of  things  kept  us  all 
in  a  state  of  suspense  and  discontent.  Gessler  invited 
me  to  come  and  read  Greek  and  Italian  with  him,  for  he 
was  a  very  well-educated  and  well-informed  man,  having 
in  his  youth  visited  both  England  and  Italy  several 
times,  and  collected  a  fine  library.  He  was  a  little  man, 
with  great  animation  of  manner,  a  broad  face  marked 
with  the  small-pox  and  often  convulsed  with  the  pain  of 
his  gout,  but  redeemed  by  very  brilliant  eyes.  His  face 
would  light  up  with  wit  and  drollery,  though  at  first  sight 
he  gave  you  the  impression  of  an  ugly  man.  Naturally 
hasty  and  impetuous,  he  had  gained  great  mastery  over 
himself  by  continued  perseverance.  In  conversation  he 
shot  forth  arrow  after  arrow,  but  if  he  struck  any  one  too 
hard,  his  good   nature  soon    made    everything  smooth 


vET.  43-]  Count  Gcsslcr.  i28l 

again.     In  order  to  conceal,  or  rather  disguise,  his  good 
temper  and  the  great  softness  and  gentleness  of  his  dis- 
position, he  had  adopted  a  blustering  manner,  particularly 
when  he  was  going  to   do  any  one  a  kindness,  and  in 
quiet  acts  of  benevolence  he  was  unwearying.     He  was 
grandson  of  a  great  Prussian  general,  who  had  decided 
•  the  fortunes  of  the  day  at  the  battle  of  Jauer,  or  Hohen- 
friedberg,  in  the  second  Silesian  war,  by  a  brilliant  feat 
of  arms,  breaking  through. the  Austrian  centre  with  four 
regiments,  and  riding  down  the  Hungarian  and  Bohemian 
grenadiers  like  straw.     The  great  King  gave  him  a  large 
grant  out  of  the  conquered  territor}',  and  raised  him  to 
the  rank  of  count.  In  remembrance  of  this  glorious  deed, 
his  grandson  bore  on  his  arms  twenty-five  standards  and 
sixty-six  pennons.     According  to  tradition,  the  Gesslers 
had   come   from    Swabia   in    the   crusades   against    the 
heathen  in  Prussia,  and  probably  were  of  the  same  race 
as  the  wild  Gessler  of  the  Swiss  fable  of  Wilhelm  Tell, 
which,  byrthe-way,    is  only    a  version    of  the   story  of 
Cambyses. 

Our  Count  Karl  was  a  captain  in  the  Landsturm,  and 
as  such,  thank  God,  never  had  the  opportunity  of  doing 
any  great  deeds.  In  conjunction  with  President  Merkel 
and  many  other  patriots,  he  was  zealously  active  with 
his  advice  and  ready  help,  and  also  with  money,  in  form- 
ing and  arming  the  Landwehr.  This  was  one  of 
Gneisenau's  feats,  so  efficiently  and  rapidly  was  it  carried 
out.  Sixty  thousand  Landwehr  were  in  a  state  of  toler- 
able efficiency  in  a  few  months.  They  took  the  field 
almost  sans  culottes,  many  having  linen  bags  instead  of 
cartridge  boxes  ;  but  they  had  the  right  spirit  and  the 


282  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S13. 

right  leaders.  They  proved  it  well  at  Katzbach  and 
Wartenburg,  and  the  Silesian  army  won  itself  unfading 
honours.  When  Prussians  mention  the  Pomeranians 
and  Brandenburgers,  the  Silesians  should  not  be  for- 
gotten. Count  Gessler  was  active  here  also,  but  he  would 
listen  to  nothing  concerning  the  Landsturm,  and  still 
less  to  the  regulations  made  for  the  Landsturm,  which 
might  do  for  Lithuania  and  Russia,  but  were  perfectly 
unsuitable  for  so  thickly  populated  a  country  as  Germany, 
and  which  must  have  been  drawn  up  by  some  wrong- 
headed  hyper-patriot  when  he  was  asleep.  (Bartholdy, 
afterwards  Prussian  consul-general  at  Rome,  has  been 
named  as  their  author.)  He  resigned  his  command  as 
soon  as  possible.  During  my  residence  at  Reichenbach 
he  completed  his  sixtieth  year,  and  immediately  obtained 
his  dismissal.  "  A  fine  story  it  would  make,"  he  said  to 
me  one  day,  "  if  I  should  have  to  take  the  field  with  my 
calico-weavers."  (There  were  many  manufactories  in 
Reichenbach  and  the  neighbourhood.)  "We  should 
have  a  run,  and  I  should  have  to  run  too.  No,  we  have 
not  come  down  quite  so  far  as  that.  I  will  not  so  dis- 
grace my  arms." 

When  the  armistice  was,  to  the  universal  joy,  declared 
at  an  end  on  the  loth  of  August,  and  fighting  began 
ao-ain  on  the  17th,  Herr  vom  Stein  followed  the  head- 
quarters  in  its  removal  to  Bohemia,  leaving  me  behind  in 
Reichenbach,  and  it  was  not  till  then  that  I  learnt  to  know 
Gessler  thoroughly.  After  the  battle  on  the  Katzbach, 
18,000  French  prisoners  were  marched  through  Reichen- 
bach into  L'pper  Silesia,  and  hospitals  v/ere  formed  for 
the  Prussian  wounded.     ^ly  Landsturm  captain  worked 


^T.  43.]      The  French  Prisoners  at  ReicJienbach.  28  ■ 


and  laboured  in  the  most  untiring  manner.  How 
often  did  we  roll  in  the  provision  waggons  backwards 
and  forwards  to  his  estate,  bringing  with  us  well-fed 
mutton  and  veal,  to  be  turned  into  soup  for  the  sick.  And 
all  this  without  any  show,  or  rather  with  a  show  of  doing 
it  only  because  he  was  obliged,  while  really  he  did  it 
with  all  his  heart. 

I  will  tell  a  good  story  of  these  days  at  Reichenbach, 
in  which  he  figures.  Among  the  prisoners  left  in  Reichen- 
bach were  several  French  generals  and  staff-officers,  one 
of  whom  was  General  Puthod.  They  got  wind  of  the 
battle  of  Dresden,  which  was  an  unfortunate  one  for  us, 
and  immediately  became  abusive  and  insolent  in  their 
language,  and  began  to  climb  up  to  roofs  and  towers 
to  watch  their  victorious  army  marching  down  upon  the 
town  ;  for  it  was  whispered  about  among  them  that  the 
French,  with  Napoleon  at  their  head,  would  soon  be  in 
Silesia  again.  And  as  Frenchmen  always  do,  if  you  do  not 
keep  a  tight  hand  over  them,  they  began  to  presume  upon 
the  good-nature  of  the  Germans,  and  demanded  the  best 
rooms  in  the  houses,  as  the  quarters  Avhich  were  most 
comfortable  and  suitable  for  them,  and  even  went  so  far 
as  to  quarter  themselves  wherever  they  pleased,  using 
threats  to  the  inhabitants  of  Reichenbach. 

One  day  the  count  and  I  went  to  see  the  evangelical 
chief-pastor,  Tiede,  a  Pomeranian  from  Pasewalk,  in 
whose  house  Stein  had  lodged.  The  pastor  began  to  com- 
plain to  the  count  of  the  insolence  of  the  foreigners,  and 
especiallyof  General  Puthod,  who  was  quartered  upon  him, 
giving  their  talk  much  as  I  have  described  it,  and  how 
they  always  concluded  by  boasting  that  Napoleon  would 


284  Life  of  Arndt.  [a-b.  1813. 

soon  pay  us  back  with  double  interest,  and  that  in  a  few 
weeks  he  would  rule  as  a  conqueror  from  the  Oder  to  the 
Vistula.  As  he  related  this  the  count  grew  angry,  and 
exclaimed :  "  Shame  on  you,  you  stout  strong  Pomeranian. 
Don't  you  know  how  to  deal  with  such  rascals  in  such  a 
case  ?  You  are  the  master  of  the  house.  What  do 
sticks  and  hemp  grow  for?"  He  crushed  his  hat  on  to 
his  head,  and  hurried  out  of  the  house  with  me,  taking 
no  notice  of  the  salute  of  General  Puthod,  whom  we  met 
in  the  market-place.  I  v\'ent  up  into  my  room.,  but  about 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  afterwards  I  saw  the  count  go  out 
in  full  uniform  of  blue  and  gold,  with  his  sword  by  his 
side  and  pistols  in  his  pockets.  He  went  quickly  across 
the  market-place  to  the  governor's  house,  where  the 
Prussian  commandant,  Colonel  Count  Lusi,  had  his 
quarters.  He  soon  came  back,  and  we  sat  down  to 
tea.  "  I  opened  the  casks  and  let  that  spazzacammino 
smell  powder.  [The  count  was  by  descent  a  Pied- 
montese.]  I  could  frighten  him  easily  with  my  Land- 
sturm.  He  seems  to  me  to  have  got  it  into  his  head  that 
the  French  may  come  back  again.  They  shall  all  go  1" 
The  last  words  he  said  defiantly,  and  not  many  hours 
elapsed  before  carriages  and  cars  came  driving  up,  and 
generals  and  officers  were  packed  in  and  driven  farther 
into  the  country  in  Upper  Silesia. 

Such  was  the  count,  and  my  quiet  life  in  his  cheerful 
society  was  very  pleasant  in  the  midst  of  the  raging  war. 
He  remained  my  faithful  friend  even  in  later  years,  when 
I  was  in  trouble  myself,  and  his  memory  must  ever 
remain   sacred  to  me.      Unintentionally  I   caused  him 


^T.  43-]  Across  the  Elbe.  285 

some  annoyance.  This  acute  and  sparkling  man  had  a 
pecuhar,  almost  Hamannic  vein,  and  both  in  conversa- 
tion and  writing  he  would  emit  flashes  of  lightning,  the 
clouds  from  which  they  issued  not  always  being  visible. 
He  would  use  extraordinary  and  obscure  figures  and 
metaphors,  such  as  his  experience,  reading,  or  fancy  sug- 
gested at  the  moment.  Without  seeing  his  gestures  and 
the  expression  of  his  face,  it  was  often  impossible  fully  to 
understand  his  words,  which  were  as  few  in  number  as  it 
was  possible  to  make  them,  and,  like  diamonds,  had  many 
facets.  But  to  repress  the  play  of  his  wit  would  have 
been  perfectly  impossible  to  such  a  man  ;  and  on  account 
of  some  of  his  letters  which  were  found  in  my  possession, 
he  was  implicated  in  the  charges  of  socialism  brought 
against  me  ;  that  is,  he  was  questioned  about  it,  but 
not  very  closely. 

With  this  noble  hot-blooded  Gessler  I  celebrated, 
over  the  finest  wine,  the  battle  of  Leipzig ;  then  packed 
up  my  bundle  and  started  in  a  huge  carriage  drawn  by 
four  horses,  on  which  the  trunks  and  baggage  which  the 
minister  had  left  behind  were  loaded,  along  the  road 
which  leads  to  Schweidnitz  and  Goldberg,  and  thence 
going  to  the  east  through  Lusatia  to  the  Elbe.  Journey- 
ing on  towards  Leipzig,  I  crossed  the  Elbe  at  Meissen. 
It  was  not  possible  to  go  by  Dresden,  for  the  French 
Marshal  St.  Cyr  with  35,000  men  lay  there,  and  the 
Russians,  under  Bennigsen,  were  besieging  it.  Here,  in 
a  little  village  not  far  from  Miihlberg,  I  heard  that  Korner 
and  his  family  were  staying  in  a  little  inn,  having  es- 
caped out  of  Dresden  before  the  siege  I  saw  the  good 
people,  and  we  rejoiced  together  ;  and  their  first  question 


286  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 

to  me  was  about  their  Theodor,  whether  I  had  not  any 
news  for  them  of  the  Liitzowers.  I  was  obh'ged  to  say- 
no.  They  were  in  great  anxiety,  having  heard  rumours 
of  fighting  in  Mecklenburg,  and  of  their  son  being 
w^ounded.  They  gave  me  letters  to  their  friends  in  Leip- 
zig, and  begged  me  to  let  them  know  immediately  if  I 
heard  anything  about  their  son.  Alas,  I  had  to  write  to 
them  only  too  soon  the  sad  message :  "  Your  son  has 
fallen  by  a  ball,  and  lies  buried  in  Mecklenburg,  under 
the  shadow  of  a  German  oak." 

Coming  nearer  Leipzig  I  saw,  with  my  own  eyes,  by 
the  roads  torn  up  and  trampled  down,  by  the  villages 
lying  in  ashes,  with  their  gardens  fenceless  and  laid 
waste,  and  bv  a  hundred  other  tokens  of  nameless  horror 
and  misery,  what  a  battle  means,  particularly  a  battle  in 
which  half-a-million  of  fighting  men,  and  more  than  a 
thousand  heavy  guns,  had  been  struggling  three  days  for 
victory  or  death. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  LEIPZIG,   1813. 

"  Whence  comest  thou  in  thy  garments  red, 
Soiling  the  hue  of  the  gi^een  grass  plain  ?" 

"  I  come  from  the  field  where  brave  men  bled, 
Red  from  the  gore  of  the  knightly  slain, 

Repelling  the  crash  of  the  fierce  assailing  ; 

^Mothers  and  brides  may  be  sorely  wailing, 
For  I  am  red." 

"  Speak,  comrade,  speak,  and  tell  me  true, 
How  call  ye  the  land  of  the  fateful  fight?" 

"At  Leipzig  the  murd'rous  fierce  review 
Dimmed  with  full  tear-drops  many  a  sight ; 

The  balls  like  winter  snowflakes  flying, 

Stifled  the  breath  of  thousands  dying, 
By  Leipzig  town." 


^T.  43.]  Leipzig.  287 

"  Name  me  the  hosts  that  in  battle  array 

Let  fly  their  diverse  banners  wide  ?" 
"  All  lands  to  join  in  the  dread  affray 

Against  the  hated  French  took  side, 

The  gallant  Swede  and  the  valiant  Prussian, 
The  Austrian  famed  in  fight  and  the  Russian, 
All,  all  went  forth." 

"  And  who  in  the  strife  won  the  hard-fought  day, 
And  who  took  the  prize  with  iron  hand?'" 

"  God  scattered  the  foreigner  like  the  sea-spray, 
God  drove  off  the  foreigner  like  the  light  sand  ; 

!Many  thousands  cover  the  green-sward  lying. 

The  rest  like  hares  to  the  four  winds  flying. 
With  Xapoleon,  too." 

"  God  bless  thee,  comrade,  thank  thee  well, 

A  tale  is  this  the  full  heart  to  cheer. 
Sounds  like  a  cymbal  of  heavenly  swell, 

A  story  of  strife  and  a  story  of  fear. 
Leave  the  widows  and  brides  to  their  wail  of  sorrow, 
We'll  sing  a  glad  song  for  full  many  a  morrow, 
Of  the  Leipzig  fight. 

"  Leipzig,  good  town  of  the  fair  linden  shade, 

A  day  of  proud  glory  shall  long  be  thine  ! 
So  long  as  the  years  roll  their  ceaseless  grade, 
,    So  long  as  the  sun  shall  go  on  to  shine  ! 
So  long  as  the  streams  to  the  ocean  are  seeking. 
So  long  shall  thy  sons  be  the  fond  praise  speaking, 
Of  the  Leipzig  fight  !" 

I  arrived  on  one  of  the  last  days  of  October.  I  found 
my  minister  elated,  hopeful,  and  in  the  best  possible 
spirits,  and  with  a  cheerful,  jubilant  society  round  him  in 
the  evening ;  among  them  two  of  my  dearest  friends — 
Reil,  the  great  surgeon,  and  Eichhorn,  a  member  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Judicature,  and  afterwards  a  minister. 
Reil  ruled  here  in  Leipzig,  as  field-marshal  of  the  sur- 
geons and  nurses  of  the  hospitals.  We  found  the  splen- 
did old  East  Frisian  cheerful  and  bright  in  society  as 


288  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S13. 

usual,  but  he  told  us  that  he  believed  he  had  taken  infec- 
tion from  a  Berlin  friend  whom  he  had  visited,  and  who 
some  hours  before  his  death  had  embraced  him  in  a 
convulsive  agony,  and  had  poisoned  him  with  his  breath. 
Since  that  day  he  had  felt  deathlike  lead  in  his  bones. 
We  did  not  think  so  seriously  of  it,  but  unfortunately  he 
had  spoken  truth.  Some  weeks  afterwards,  when  he  was 
travelling  from  Leipzig  to  Halle,  to  the  marriage  of  his 
beautiful  eldest  daughter  with  my  friend  Baron  Fried- 
rich  Scheele,  his  prognostications  were  fulfilled. 

In  November  the  monarchs,  with  their  armies,  and 
Herr  vom  Stein,  entered  Frankfort.  I  stayed  at  Leipzig. 
The  sight  was  like  Wilna  on  a  small  scale,  only  with  this 
difference,  that  the  town  had  not  been  destroyed,  and 
that  it  was  inhabited  by  Germans.  In  the  hospitals  lay 
thirty  thousand  sick  and  wounded,  friend  and  foe. 
Waggons  full  of  dead  passed  through  the  streets  daily, 
and  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  carried  off  by  the 
pestilence.  But  the  kindness  and  humanity  of  the  people 
were  unwearied,  and  the  Leipzigers  forgot  themselves 
and  their  own  misery  and  suffering  in  trying  to  help  and 
save  as  many  as  they  could.  It  was  Germany  seen  in 
its  best  light. 

I  was  engaged  in  little  matters,  and  put  forth  some 
small  pamphlets.  One  of  these  was  a  source  of  plea- 
sure to  me — that  entitled  "Der  Rhein  Deutschlands 
Strom,  aber  nicht  Deutschlands  Granze  "  ("  The  Rhine  a 
German  River,  not  a  German  Boundary.")  It  was  suc- 
cessful, and  still  appears  to  me  well  written.  Naturally, 
most  of  these  little  pamphlets,  produced  amid  the  whirl  of 
business,  when  it  was  seldom  possible  to  get  hold  of  the 


^T.  43.]        "  Dcr  Rhcin  Dciitschlands  Strom!'  289 

right  materials,  were  little  more  than  leaves  blown  away 
by  the  wind.  This  one  brought  me  public  praise  from 
the  Prussian  Chancellor,  Prince  Hardenberg,  and  pro- 
mises of  employment  in  the  Prussian  service. 

Stein  to  E.  M.  A.* 

"  Freiburg,  Breisgau,  Jan.  7th,  1S14. 

"  You  will  certainly  be  of  use  in  Frankfort,  and  your  presence 
is  desired  there.  You  will  find  there  Herr  von  Riihle.  Go  to 
his  Excellency  the  Imp.  Privy  Councillor  Herr  von  Hiigel, 
who  is  managing  Government  aftaiis.  He  is  an  honest  intelli- 
gent German. 

"  Your  essay,  '  Der  Rhein  ein  Deutscher  Strom,  aber  keine 
Deutsche  Granze,'  has  given  much  pleasure  to  many,  among 
others  to  the  Chancellor.  He  wishes  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  '  honest  professor.'  I  have  taken  the  opportunity  to 
repeat  a  proposal  which  I  made  long  ago  on  your  behalf  both 
to  him  and  to  you.  If  you  come  to  Frankfort,  pay  a  visit  to  the 
home  of  my  ancestors  on  the  Lahn. 

"  Farewell.  To-morrow  I  am  going  to  Basle.  On  Jan.  6th, 
1 8 13,  we  left  St.  Petersburg  ! 

"Stein." 

ElCHHORN  to  E.  ]\I.  A.t 

"Jan.  23rd,  1814. 
'Your  book,  'Der  Rhein  Deutschlands  Strom,'  etc.,  has 
done  a  great  deal.  We  have  dispersed  it  abroad.  The  waver- 
ing minds  of  men  need  to  be  often  and  powerfully  stirred  up 
before  they  become  firmly  settled  in  what  is  right.  Now  people 
are  ashamed  of  the  thought  that  the  Rhine  could  possibly  be 
the  frontier. 

"  Yours, 

"  ElCHHORN. 

"The  Chancellor  von  Hardenberg  thinks  very  highly  of  you. 
He  knows  that  you  put  the  honour,  freedom,  and  glory  of  the 
Fatherland,  especially  of  Prussia,  above  everything  else." 

Immediately  after  Christmas  I  went  to  Frankfort-on- 

*  "  Nothgedrungener  Bench t,"  pt.  ii.  p.  252.  t  I^ii^^-  p.  250. 

19 


290  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S13. 

the-Main,  following  the  road,  which  is  a  bad  one  in 
winter,  over  the  Inselberg  to  Schmalkalden,  and  thence 
by  Wiirzburg  and  Aschaffenburg  along  the  Main,  for  it 
was  impossible  to  take  the  usual  road  by  Fulda,  on  ac- 
count of  the  want  of  horses.  On  the  summit  of  the 
Thuringer  Wald,  the  road  being  slippery  with  ice  and 
snow,  my  carriage  and  horses  met  with  a  serious  accident, 
from  which,  however,  I  escaped  with  a  severe  bruise  and 
the  loss  of  a  tooth.  In  the  ancient,  imperial,  sacred 
coronation  city,  I  found  the  state  of  feeling  such  as  I 
could  not  quarrel  with.  The  discovery  of  the  secret 
articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Ried  had  produced  a  great 
effect.  Most  Germans  wished  that  the  power  of  Germany 
should  be  increased,  and  that,  therefore,  ad  inodmn 
Napoleonis^  several  of  the  lesser  states  should  be  sup- 
pressed. They  did  not  understand  how  the  necessary 
compensations  could  be  paid  if  Napoleon's  work  were 
left  untouched  in  Germany,  especially  considering  the 
offers  of  peace  which  they  had  made  themselves,  after 
the  great  battle  of  Leipzig,  to  the  defeated  party.  In 
his  flight,  he  had  made  one  of  his  diplomatic  enfants 
perdiis,  Count  St.  Aignan,  remain  behind  and  let  himself 
be  caught,  in  order  that  he  might  use  him  to  feel  the 
pulse  of  his  enemies.  Many  faithful  hearts  began  to 
tremble  lest  the  evil  one  should  have  his  own  way  again, 
and  the  fox  should  again  escape.  But  however  much 
they  offered,  almost  throwing  away  the  advantages  of 
their  victory,  he  could  not  and  would  not  acknowledge 
to  himself  the  whole  extent  of  his  misfortune,  and  his 
wounded  pride  would  not  bend.  The  following  document, 
■which  looked  like  an  official  declaration  on    the   part 


iET.  43-]  Manifesto  of  the  Allies.  291 

of  the  illustrious  monarchs,  was  read  with  astonishment 
in  Frankfort,  on  Dec.  i,  in  the  German  and  French 
languages. 

"  Manifesto. 

"  The  French  Government  has  recently  determined  to 
make  a  new  levy  of  three  hundred  thousand  men.     The 
motives  for  this  senatiis  considtuni  are  a  kind  of  appeal 
to   the  Allied  Powers,  once  more   in  the    face    of  the 
world  to  make  known  their  wishes  and  determinations, 
the  opinions  which  guide  them  in  the  present  war,  the 
principles    on  which    their    conduct  rests.     Xot  against 
France,  but  against  that  ostentatious  supremacy  which 
the  Emperor  Napoleon,  to  the  misfortune  of  Europe  and 
France,  has  exerted  only  too  long  outside  the  borders  of 
his  empire,  do  the  Allied  Powers  wage  war.     Victory 
has    led  the  allied  army  to  the  Rhine.     The    first    use 
which  their  Imperial  and  Royal  jMajesties  made  of  their 
victory  was  to  offer  peace  to  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of 
the   French.     The    new  increase    of  power  which   they 
have  received  by  the  conjunction  of  all  the  rulers  and 
princes  of  Germany  has  had  no  influence  on  the  con- 
ditions of  peace.     They  have  been  grounded  as  much  on 
the  independence  of  the  French  Empire  as  on  the  in- 
dependence  of  the  remaining  states  of  Europe,     The 
opinions    of    the  Allied  Powers  are   just    in    intention, 
generous  and  noble  in  application,  giving  security  to  all, 
and   honourable   to    every  one.     The   allied    monarchs 
wish  that   France  should  be  great,  strong,  and  happy, 
because    the    greatness   and   strength    of    the    French 
Empire    is   one   of  the   principal    foundations    of    the 

19 — 2 


292  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1813. 


European  state  edifice.  They  wish  that  France  should 
be  happy,  that  French  trade  should  revive,  that  art  and 
science,  those  blessings  of  peace,  should  flourish  again, 
because  a  great  nation  can  only  be  at  rest  when  it  is 
happy. 

"The  Allied  Powers  will  confirm  an  extension  of 
territory  to  the  French  Empire,  such  as  France  never 
possessed  under  her  kings  ;  for  a  gallant  nation  is  not  de- 
graded because  she  has  suffered  disasters  in  an  obstinate 
and  bloody  struggle,  in  which  she  has  fought  with  her 
wonted  courage.  Bnt  the  Allied  Powers  wish  also  them- 
selves to  be  free,  happy,  and  at  peace.  They  desire  a 
state  of  peace,  which  by  a  wise  division  of  power,  by  a 
just  balance  of  power,  may  preserve  their  people  in 
future  from  the  innumerable  misfortunes  with  w^hich 
Europe  has  been  burdened  for  twenty  years. 

"The  Allied  Powers  will  not  lay  down  their  arms  until 
they  have  attained  this  great  and  salutary  object,  this 
noble  aim  of  their  endeavours.  They  will  not  lay  down 
their  arms  until  the  political  situation  of  Europe  is 
established  afresh,  until  unchangeable  principles  have 
gained  the  victory  over  idle  assumptions  ;  and  lastly, 
until  a  sacred  treaty  has  secured  true  peace  to  Europe." 

This  remarkable  declaration  was  not  addressed  to  the 
French  alone,  but  to  the  Germans,  and  that  in  no  in- 
direct manner.  After  the  insults  and  injuries  of  so 
many  years,  after  the  bloody  and  exhausting  efforts  of 
the  last  two,  they  might  be  allowed  to  express  some 
astonishment  that  this  declaration  did  not  explain  more 
clearly  why,  for  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  Europe,  it 


/ET.  43.]  Allies  in  France.  293 


was  necessary  that  the  French  should  be  so  great, 
powerful,  and  happy.  For  three  hundred  evil  years  this 
power  had  been  to  them  nothing  but  the  symbol  of 
deceit  and  cunning,  bringing  upon  them  shame  and  ruin. 
They  might  naturally  wonder  why  no  one  ever  spoke  of 
the  necessity  of  their  nation  being  great,  powerful,  and 
happy.  For  it  was  in  the  centre  of  the  Continent,  and 
seemed  appointed  to  be  a  barrier  between  combatants 
from  East  and  West. 

So  it  came  about,  fortunately,  in  the  wisdom  of  God 
that  Napoleon  continued  his  resistance,  and  the  alliea 
armies  crossed  the  Rhine.  At  last  they  entered  that 
sacred  land  :  beautiful,  glorious  France,  the  seat  of  art, 
science,  civilisation  and  beauty,  as  its  inhabitants  de- 
scribe it  to  the  rest  of  the  barbarous  populations  of 
Europe.  This  most  polished  of  nations  had  to  be  con- 
tented to  see  its  land  overrun  not  only  by  Germans, 
Hungarians,  and  Russians,  but  by  Cossacks,  Kalmucks, 
and  Bashkirs,  who  water  their  horses  in  the  Volga  and 
the  Obi. 

But,  in  the  midst  of  marching  and  fighting,  negotia- 
tions with  Napoleon  were  not  dropped,  but  were  re- 
opened at  Chatillon,  February  3,  1814.  We,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Rhine,  trembled  at  rumours  of  peace. 
Slight  reverses  to  our  arms  did  not  alarm  us;  but  we 
feared  the  fox's  cunning,  lest  he  should  succeed  in 
loosening  the  bonds  of  love  and  concord  in  which  the 
monarchs  were  now  united.  But,  thank  God,  every  little 
success  aroused  new  hopes  in  Napoleon,  and  he  made  it 
evident  to  the  monarchs  that  he  was  only  amusing  them 
with  negotiations  that  he  might  gain  time.  Accordingly, 


294  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 

they  grew  more  and  more  exacting  in  their  demands, 
until  not  merely  his  pride  but  his  personal  safety  was  at 
stake,  for  he  did  not  dare  to  confess  himself  conquered 
and  disarmed  by  giving  up  the  fortresses  and  very  keys 
of  France :  Mainz,  Antwerp,  Lille,  Metz,  and  Stras- 
burg.  The  French,  indeed,  when  the  misfortune  and 
misery  which  they  in  their  insolence  had  brought  upon 
their  neighbours  knocked  at  their  own  doors,  cried, 
"  Peace,  peace  !" 

But  Napoleon  knew  his  people.  As  they  threw  on 
him  the  blame  of  all  their  acts  of  cruelty  to  other 
nations,  so  they  would  like  to  represent  him  as  guilty  of 
their  humiliation.  An  upstart  has  not  the  same  hold 
over  his  people  as  a  prince  of  an  ancient  race  possesses. 
He  himself  afterwards  said,  "  I  could  have  ruled  dif- 
ferently, and  have  ventured  many  things,  if  I  had  been 
my  own  grandson." 

Thus  pride  and  egotism  this  time  saved  Europe.  In 
the  January  of  this  year,  18 14,  in  the  French  Lower 
House,  then  called  the  Corps  Legislatif,  Laine  and 
Raynouard  ventured  to  express  their  opinion  freely 
upon  the  danger  to  France  of  continuing  the  war  ;  and 
these  daring  sentiments  were  sent  up  to  Napoleon  in  the 
address  of  the  Lower  House.  Such  opposition  was 
quite  new  to  him.  He  had  been  accustomed  for  ten 
years  and  more  to  abject  submission.  He  lost  his 
temper,  and  drove  them  out,  answering  them  in  a 
manner  so  characteristic  that  I  cannot  help  giving  it 
here. 

"  I  have  forbidden  the  printing  of  your  address  ;  it  was 
seditious.     Eleven-twelfths  of  the  Corps  Legislatif  con- 


^T.  44. J       Napoleon  and  the  Corps  Legislatif.  295 

sist  of  good  citizens  ;  I  know  them,  and  esteem  them. 
The  other  twelfth  consists  of  intriguing  men  and  bad 
citizens,  and  your  delegates  are  among  the  number. 
Laine  is  a  traitor,  who,  through  the  medium  of  Deseze, 
is  in  communication  with  the  Prince  Regent.  I  know 
it ;  I  have  proofs  of  it.  The  other  four  are  men  of 
factious  minds.  This  twelfth  consists  of  people  who 
wish  for  anarchy,  and  are  like  the  Girondists.  To  what 
did  such  conduct  bring  Vergniaud  and  the  other  ring- 
leaders }  To  the  scaffold  !  It  is  not  in  such  a  moment 
as  this,  when  Ave  must  be  driving  the  enemy  from  our 
frontiers,  that  a  change  in  the  constitution  should  be 
demanded  from  me.  The  example  of  Alsace,  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Burgundy,  and  the  district  of  the  Vosges,  must 
be  followed.  There  the  inhabitants  turn  to  me  to  sup- 
ply them  with  arms,  and  to  send  them  leaders  for  the 
franc-tireurs,  where  I  have  also  sent  adjutants.  You  are 
not  representatives  of  the  nation,  but  delegates  of  de- 
partments. I  assembled  you  to  receive  comfort  from 
you  ;  not  that  I  am  wanting  in  courage,  but  I  hoped 
the  Corps  Legislatif  would  raise  it  for  me.  But  instead, 
it  has  deceived  me ;  instead  of  the  good  which  I 
expected  from  it,  it  has  done  me  harm  :  little  harm 
indeed,  but  only  because  it  could  not  do  me  great 
harm. 

"  In  your  address,  you  seek  to  separate  the  ruler  from 
the  nation.  I  alone  am  the  true  representative  of  the 
people,  and  which  of  you  can  take  the  burden  upon  you  ? 
The  throne  is  but  a  thing  of  wood  covered  with  velvet, 
I  alone  am  the  true  representative  of  the  people.  If  I 
were  to  shape  my  course  according  to  you,   I  should 


296  Life  of  Arndf.  [a.d.  1814. 

give  up  to  the  enemy  more  than  he  himself  desires  of 
me.  You  shall  have  peace  in  a  quarter  of  a  year,  or  I 
will  yield.  Only  at  present  we  must  display  our 
strength.  I  will  seek  out  the  enemy,  and  we  will  beat 
them.  The  moment  in  which  Hiiningue  is  being  bom- 
barded and  Belfort  attacked,  is  not  the  right  one  for 
bringing  complaints  about  the  constitution  of  the 
empire  and  the  abuse  of  power. 

"  The  Corps  Legislatif  is  only  one  part  of  the  State^ 
and  cannot  be  compared  with  the  Senate  and  the 
Council  of  State.  I  stand  at  the  head  of  the  nation,  as 
long  as  the  existing  constitution  seems  good  to  you.  If 
France  should  desire  another  constitution,  which  does 
not  seem  good  to  me,  I  should  say,  '  Find  yourselves 
another  ruler.'  The  enemy  is  more  embittered  against 
me  than  against  France ;  but  shall  I  therefore  allow  the 
empire  to  be  cut  to  pieces  .''  Am  I  not  sacrificing  my 
pride  and  my  own  judgment  for  the  sake  of  peace  .''  Yes, 
I  am  proud  because  I  possess  courage, — I  am  proud  be- 
cause I  have  done  great  things  for  France.  Your  address 
is  unworthy  of  me  and  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  and  at  some 
future  time  I  Avill  have  it  printed  to  shame  the  Corps 
Legislatif  and  the  nation.  Go  back  to  your  homes. 
Even  supposing  I  were  wrong,  it  is  not  for  you  to  re- 
proach me.  Besides,  France  needs  me  more  than  I  need 
France." 

After  several  sanguinary  engagements  the  allies 
entered  Paris.  Napoleon  was  dethroned,  and  submitted 
tamely  to  be  exiled  to  the  island  of  Elba  ;  the  Bourbons 
again  ascended  the  throne  of  their  fathers.  What  need 
is  there  for  me  to  treat  of  a  subject  so  well  known  to  all 


JET.  44.]  Alexander.  297 

Germans  ?  Talleyrand  came  to  the  front  at  once  to 
receive  the  Emperor  Alexander;  indeed,  he  took  him 
prisoner,  or,  rather,  not  he,  but  the  French,  the  Parisians, 
captivated  him.  How  the  Prussian  and  Austrian  soldiers 
ground  their  teeth  with  rage  when  they  were  left  to 
suffer  hunger  and  thirst  before  the  gates  and  in  the 
streets  of  Paris,  when  they  were  not  allowed  to  find 
quarters  in  this  capital  of  the  civilised  world,  as  French- 
men call  it,  after  the  humiliation  of  Berlin  and  Vienna, 
and  the  sufferings  of  so  many  years  !  Yet  we  must  not 
forget  that  we  owe  it  chiefly  to  the  perseverance  of 
Alexander  that  we  ever  reached  Paris.  By  him  we 
conquered  Paris ;  but  as  soon  as  he  had  passed  the 
gates  of  the  city,  Paris  conquered  him  !  France  retained 
the  spoils  of  many  lands,  and  paid  not  the  smallest 
indemnity. 

Nevertheless,  her  pride  was  greatly  hurt  that  she  had 
to  restore  most  of  her  conquests  and  annexations.  It 
is  a  fortunate  thing  for  the  French  that  their  language 
is  in  such  common  use  throughout  the  world.  It  gives 
them  great  advantages  in  all  kinds  of  negotiations,  and 
from  its  universal  use  in  education  exerts  a  very  subtle 
influence  on  most  minds.  The  Emperor  Alexander  was 
almost  a  German  prince  through  his  father,  as  well  as 
through  his  mother.  The  Russian  people  have  been 
raised  out  of  barbarism,  and  have  received  European 
civilisation,  chiefly  through  German  influence.  The  Czar 
had  more  than  a  million  of  German  subjects,  but  he  had 
been  educated  as  if  he  were  to  rule  Frenchmen.  His 
master  and  tutor  had  been  a  Swiss.  This  man  and 
Talleyrand,  and  all  those  who  surrounded  him  in  Paris, 


298  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 

were  always  whispering,  "  Mercy,  mercy,  and  favour  for 
the  French  !  They  are  the  transmitters  of  history  to 
future  generations.  As  Alexander  of  Macedon,  and  as 
Rome,  spared  and  honoured  Ilium  for  Homer's  sake,  so 
spare  and  honour  Paris  for  the  sake  of  the  learning 
and  polish  without  which  we  should  all  have  been 
barbarians." 


CHAPTER    XII. 

AFTER   THE   WAR. 

The  Central  Administration  at  Frankfort.— A  visit  to  the  Upper  Rhine  and 
Strasburg. — Stein  at  Frankfort. — Hardenberg. — A  visit  to  Nassau. — 
Friiulein  vom  Stein. — On  foot  to  Berlin. — The  Congress  of  Vienna. 

In  this  sacred  old  city  of  Frankfort  I  spent  almost  a 
year.  Since  then  I  have  stayed  there  for  months  and 
years  together  at  different  times,  making,  as  I  flatter 
myself,  many  friends  and  very  few  enemies.  I,  too,  in 
those  days,  was  one  of  the  burdens  of  war,  and  I  was 
quartered  in  good  soldierly  fashion  with  the  noble  old 
Burgundian  family  of  Gontard,  and  afterwards  with  the 
worthy  patriotic  German  bookseller,  Eichenberg.  I 
gained  the  friendship  of  these  excellent  men,  and  it  has 
remained  mine  ever  since.  Eichenberg  was  a  very  well- 
educated  man,  a  pupil  of  the  "  Dessau  Philanthropin." 
His  father  had  printed  Goethe's  earliest  attempts,  and 
his  widow  still  lives,  one  of  the  truest  friends  of  my  old 
age. 

What  was  I  doing,  making,  or  rather  creating,  here 
in  Frankfort  ?  1  reply,  much  the  same  as  in  Konigsberg, 
Dresden,  and  Leipzig.  Occasionally  I  had  special  business 
and  commissions  from  the  minister,  which  took  me  away 
perhaps  for  weeks  or  even   months  to  Coblentz,  Mainz, 


300  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 

WormSj  and  other  places,  while  I  had  also  to  watch  the 
proceedings  of  the  courts  of  Darmstadt  and  Baden- 
Carlsruhe.  The  Council  for  the  administration  of 
German  affairs  was  now  firmly  established  at  Frankfort, 
though  its  head  had  proceeded  with  the  monarchs  into 
France.  Under  the  protection  of  this  court,  I  had  the 
power  and  liberty  to  employ  myself  with  the  pen  in  my 
own  fashion,  and  with  the  most  perfect  freedom  of  the 
press.  Colonel  Ruble  von  Lilienstern  was  here  on 
behalf  of  Prussia  for  matters  concerning  the  war  and 
the  general  arming  of  Germany;  and  for  the  rest,  es- 
pecially the  commissariat  and  the  care  of  the  hospitals, 
the  noble  and  excellent  Count  Solms-Laubach  was  ap- 
pointed, and  with  him  I  had  much  intercourse.  For 
Austria  there  was  a  Herr  von  Flandel  and  Major 
Meyern,  author  of  the  "  Diana  Sora,"  in  whose  intel- 
lectual society  I  made  many  expeditions  to  the  beautiful 
Rhine.  There  were  representatives  also  of  other  German 
States, and  Russia  was  represented  by  Nicholas  Durjeneff, 
whose  brother  Alexis  I  had  known  very  well  in  St. 
Petersburg.  I  spent  the  whole  winter  in  Frankfort,  and 
then  went  to  Coblentz,  as  Stein  thought  that  I  should 
find  a  suitable  post  under  Gruner,  in  the  administration 
of  the  IMiddle  Rhine.  However,  this  came  to  nothing, 
as  after  the  peace  of  Paris  this  Government  was  dis- 
solved, and  reformed  after  quite  a  different  plan  to  that 
which  had  been  at  first  intended.  I  made  use  of  a  part 
of  the  summer  and  autumn  in  making  myself  more 
fully  acquainted  with  the  provinces  of  the  Rhine,  which 
I  had  hitherto  only  cursorily  visited.  I  saw  the  Upper 
Rhine  and  Strasburg  twice,  of   course  in  the  strictest 


^T,  44.]  Alsace.  301 

incognito.  What  a  country  it  is  !  What  a  town  !  And 
yet,  alas  !  we  did  not  take  it  back  and  keep  it.  Some 
say  that  these  provinces  would  not  readily  be  reunited 
with  ours,  and  it  is  true  that  they  would  not  at  once, 
but  in  time  they  would  grow  accustomed  to  the  change. 
The  rest  of  the  Rhine-provinces,  though  they  were  only 
held  by  the  French  for  twelve  or  fifteen  years,  yet  have 
had  in  some  degree  to  accustom  themselves  again  to 
Germany  and  their  German  brothers.  The  greater  part 
of  Alsace  has  been  united  to  France  for  from  one  hundred 
and  fifty  to  two  hundred  years,  but  still  the  Teutonic 
language  and  Teutonic  manners  prevail  among  the  in- 
habitants, though  few  of  them  feel  what  they  have  lost 
in  not  being  united  to  the  great  German  nation.  And 
here  is  a  great  perversion  of  nature;  for  when  a  people 
is  governed  by  a  greater  foreign  nation,  the  elements 
of  its  own  nature  grow  feeble  and  are  little  developed, 
while  it  can  with  difficulty  adopt  the  elements  of  its 
foreign  neighbour.  Will,  or  can,  a  German  Alsatian, 
brought  up  under  French  influence  and  in  French  habits 
of  thought,  ever  become  a  man  of  the  first  rank  in  the 
French  kingdom  .-'  I  doubt  it.  But  again,  some  say 
that  they  wanted  to  kill  the  spirit  of  revolution  in 
France  ;  they  wanted  to  satisfy  and  content  the  French, 
and  how  much  would  they  have  exasperated  them  if 
they  had  taken  away  from  them  Alsace,  and  all  that 
lies  on  this  side  of  the  Ardennes  !  Oh,  do  you  think 
they  were  thankful  to  us  Germans  for  our  moderation  .'* 
Were  they  not  enraged  at  having  received  their  well- 
merited  punishment  1  Where  is  the  Frenchman  who 
does  not   curse  the  people  of  Antw^erp,  Coblent;;^,  and 


502  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 


Mainz,  because  they  do  not  take  off  their  hats  to  him  ? 
Where  is    the    Frenchman,    from    Chateaubriand    and 
Lamartine  to  the  stupidest   corporal   in  the  army,  who 
does  not  say,  "  But  the  Rhine  is  the  natural  boundary  of 
France.       Whatever  lies   on   this   side   of  the  Rhine  is 
France,  and  must  be  annexed  on  the  first  opportunity." 
Oh  !  with  what  feelings  of  admiration  and  sorrow  did  all 
this   beauty   and  splendour  fill  me,  as  I  stood  on  the 
cathedral  tower  at  Strasburg,  and  saw  in  the  blue  dis- 
tance towards  the  east  the  Black  Forest,  towards  the 
south  the  Jura,  towards  the  west  the  Vosges.     The  mag- 
nificent town    and   its    inhabitants,  how    German  still ! 
How  easy  it  is  to  distinguish  the  simple  German  man- 
ners from  the  more  lively  and  elegant  French.     What  a 
fine  strong  race  they  are  in  this  splendid  valley  of  the 
Rhine.     They  are  Alemanni  ;  their  vehemence,  the  im- 
petuosity of  their  passions,  their  short-clipped  accent,  their 
hearty  kindness  and  straightforwardness,  and   their  very 
coarseness,  prove  it.     This  race,  mixed  up  indeed  with 
other  races  and  somewhat  thinned,  extends  (I  have  con- 
vinced myself  by  examining  the  language,  and  still  more 
the  appearance  and   manners  of  the  people)    over  the 
Hundsruck  and  the  Moselle  up  to  the  Eifel,  and  to  the 
east  as  far  as  Maifeld  and  Andernach,  so  that  in  several 
places  it  reaches  almost  to  the  Aar.  Every  five  (German) 
miles  as  you  go  towards  the  west,  you  find  the  language 
lose  spirit  and  tone,  and  betray  symptoms  of  its  con- 
nection with  Low-German.  The  peasants  round  Cologne, 
and   those  inhabiting  the  land   of  Jiilich,  Cleves,    and 
Limburg,  speak  with  little  variation  the  same  dialect. 
Certainly  the  variations  are  not  greater  than  in  North 


JET.  44.]  InJiabitants.  303 

Germany  among  the  people  of  Brunswick,  Holstein, 
Pomerania  and  Brandenburg.  We  must  conclude  there- 
fore that  they  are  for  the  greater  part  Franks.  These 
lands  were  the  seat  of  the  Ripuarian  and  Salic  Franks. 
They  never  emigrated,  only  their  princes  with  a  following 
of  volunteers  conquered  Gaul,  Why  should  they  leave 
such  a  splendid  country,  watered  with  the  finest  streams, 
endowed  with  rare  fertility  and  all  the  riches  of  nature, 
for  a  worse }  And  if  they  did  march  out  Avith  every- 
thing belonging  to  them,  who  succeeded  them  and  took 
possession  of  their  vacated  lands  }  Perhaps  the  Saxons, 
their  hereditary  enemies.  But  we  know  nothing  of  the 
kind  occurred.  Their  conquest  of  Gaul  occurred  in 
historical  times,  and  German-France,  under  the  name  of 
Austrasia,  remained  for  four  centuries  the  strength  of 
their  empire.  But  with  the  Saxons  they  were  related, 
very  closely  related,  though  they  were  afterwards  their 
most  bitter  enemies.  That  is  clear,  even  at  the  present 
day,  in  their  whole  language  and  manners.  Were  the 
Franks  originally  one  particular  family  .''  I  think  not. 
The  name  Frank  arose  from  a  confederation.  The  mass 
out  of  which  the  Frank  nation  was  formed  must  have 
been  composed  of  several  Saxon  tribes.  In  Roman  his- 
tory of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  the  names  of  many 
Saxon  tribes  occur  in  the  wars  of  the  Romans  as  dwell- 
ing on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  in  the  very  district 
which  is  known  to  have  been  the  stronghold  of  the 
Franks.  The  latter  dwelt  in  the  district  between  the 
Moselle  and  the  j\Ieuse,  and  beyond  the  Meuse  as  far  as 
the  boundaries  of  the  Frisians,  who  were  settled  in  the 
marsh-lands  along  the  sea  coast,  and  round  the  Zuyder 


304  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S14. 


Zee,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Meuse  beyond  the  Elbe  as 
far  as  the  Cimbrian  peninsula.  Besides,  in  the  descrip- 
tions given  of  them  by  friend  and  foe  from  the  fourth  to 
the  ninth  century,  Saxons  and  Franks  are  represented  as 
very  similar  in  many  respects  :  stubbornness,  untam- 
ableness,  violence  and  horrible  cruelty,  were  as  much,  or 
even  more,  the  characteristics  of  the  Franks  as  of  the 
Saxons  in  those  days.  In  contrast  to  them,  Goths  and 
Lombards  seem  humane,  gentle,  and  chivalrous.  And 
the  Frank  in  Gaul  was  soon  contaminated  by  the  cor- 
rupt, servile,  and  Romanised  Gaul,  and  became  as  cun- 
nine  and  faithless  as  he  was  brave  and  cruel. 

What  happy  days  I  enjoyed  during  my  excursions 
through  this  country  !  How  many  noble  Germans  I  m.et 
in  Worms,  Spires,  Baden,  and  in  the  Black  Forest,  and 
even  in  Alsace,  all  of  them  exulting  in  the  great  hopes 
which  were  opening  before  them.  I  had  already  made 
acquaintance  with  Alsatians  in  Frankfort,  and  received 
letters  of  recommendation  from  them  to  several  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Strasburg,  who  would  often  say  to  me, 
"We  are  Germans,  and  many  of  us  would  be  glad  to 
become  German  again,  but  do  not  join  us  to  some  little 
principality.  That  would  never  do.  Give  us  something 
better  than  that,  or  we  would  rather  stay  as  we  are." 

I  visited  Cologne  and  Diisseldorf,  where  I  saw  Fried- 
rich  Jacobi's  brave  son,  Georg,  in  his  ancestral  Pempel- 
fort.  I  v.-ent  into  the  mountain  districts  of  the  duchy  of 
Berg,  where  I  was  amused  to  see  how  every  one  was  on 
horseback.  It  reminded  me  of  Jemtland,  in  Sweden. 
How  they  must  have  galloped,  in  the  days  when  there 
were  no   roads,  and  when  it  was  almost  impossible  to 


^T.  44.]  TJic  Rhine  Lands.  305 

travel  through  the  narrow  passes  in  a  two-wheeled,  not 
to  say  a  four-wheeled,  conveyance.  I  was  much  amused 
too  at  a  philosophical  absurdity  which  I  met  with  in  a 
commentary  on  Tacitus's  "  Germania."  The  Tenkteri, 
whom  Tacitus  speaks  of  in  this  neighbourhood  as  ex- 
cellent cavalry,  were  said  to  have  derived  their  name 
from  the  notes  of  the  trumpet — tenkter,  tenk-tenk  !  just  as 
a  Roman  is  said  to  have  given  the  name  of  Idistavisus 
to  the  battle  fought  on  the  Weser  between  Germanicus 
and  Arminius,  because  a  German,  being  asked  the  name 
of  the  river,  replied,  "Et  is  a  Wise."  I  went  over  the 
mountains  from  Elberfeld  by  Solingen  to  Remscheid, 
not  on  horseback  nor  in  a  carriage,  but  on  foot,  with  a 
guide  from  Elberfeld  carrying  my  luggage.  Jahn^  was 
with  me,  the  master  of  the  Turnverein  (Gymnastic 
Society),  though  so  young,  having  been  my  pupil  at 
Greifswald.  He  travelled  with  me  from  Coblentz,  where 
I  met  him,  down  the  Rhine.  In  Ehringhausen  we  went 
into  a  house,  where  I  have  been  on  an  intimate  footing 

""  F.  L.  Jahn,  the  "  Turnvater,"  was  the  son  of  a  pastor  in  Pomerania,  and 
was  born  in  1778.  In  1809  he  settled  in  Berlin  and  opened  a  gymnasium 
for  the  purpose  of  preparing  the  youth  of  Germany  by  bodily  exercises  for 
fighting  for  their  country.  His  book  "  Deutsches  Volkthum,"  published  at 
this  time,  brought  him  many  disciples,  and  his  influence  became  considerable. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  and  all  his  pupils  joined  the  army.  Jahn 
enlisted  in  the  Liitzowers,  but  his  enemies  charged  him  with  insubordinate 
conduct,  and  threw  it  in  his  teeth  that  he  always  contrived  to  be  ill  or 
absent  at  the  time  of  a  battle.  After  the  peace  he  was  employed  in 
organising  gymnasiums  in  various  places,  until  1819,  when  at  the  time  of 
the  alarm  about  socialist  intrigues  he  was  arrested  and  condemned  to  two 
years'  imprisonment.  The  sentence  was  not  carried  out,  but  he  was 
banished  to  a  distance  from  Berlin,  and  every  effort  made  to  separate  him 
from  the  "Burschen,"  who  idolised  him.  In  1830  he  published  a  sequel 
to  his  "Deutsches  Volkthum,"  which  contained  some  very  extravagant  ideas. 
He  was  afterwards  a  member  of  the  Parliament  of  1848,  and  belonged  to 
the  extreme  Right,  but  he  found  his  influence  quite  gone. 

20 


3o6  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 

ever  since  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  hope  to  be  so 
till  death.  In  Remscheid,  Ehringhausen,  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood, there  are  several  families  of  the  name  of 
Hasenclever.  In  Ehringhausen  there  were  then  living 
three  brothers,  Bernhard,  the  eldest,  since  dead,  David, 
and  Josua.  There  was  much  that  was  patriarchal  in 
their  manners,  and  the  other  names  being  from  the  Old 
Testament,  I  unconsciously  called  my  dear  friend  Bern- 
hard,  Abraham,  stamping  him,  what  he  really  was,  a 
true  patriarch.  It  was  a  thoroughly  German  family, 
full  of  exultation  in  those  days  of  victory.  David  I  had 
met  before  in  the  winter,  at  Frankfort.  He  was  captain 
of  the  Tenkteri  in  the  mountains,  that  is  to  say,  the 
Landsturm.  His  wife  was  from  Frankfort,  George 
Schlosser's  worthy  daughter.  Who  would  not  gladly 
pay  homage  to  such  a  woman  as  Queen  David  !  It  was 
a  pleasure  to  live  with  such  people,  and  gather  informa- 
tion from  them  about  the  country  and  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people.  David's  Landsturm  would  have 
stood  more  firmly,  if  called  upon,  than  Count  Gessler's 
calico-weavers.  The  strong  manly  Tenkteri,  accustomed 
to  work  in  iron,  would  have  been  at  home  in  the  heat 
and  tumult  of  battle.  In  fact,  when  the  news  of  the 
French  overthrow  in  Russia  and  Poland  reached  these 
mountains,  many  of  the  inhabitants  rose  in  premature 
rebellion,  which  cost  the  lives  of  many  young  men. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  peace.  Stein  came  back  to 
Frankfort,  about  the  middle  of  August  (June  ?),  18 14. 
I  was  in  a  carriage  going  from  Frankfort  to  Mainz,  when, 
not  far  from  Hochst,  he  came  flying  past  me  at  full 
speed  in  a  post-chaise.     I  knew  him  at  once.     General 


^T.  44.]  Stein  at  Frankfort.  307 

Boyen  was  sitting  by  him  in  the  chaise.  Stein  recog- 
nised me  too,  and  called  out,  "  Turn  round  at  once,  and 
come  back  with  me  to  Frankfort."  I  did  so,  and  sat 
down  to  dinner  in  the  "  Romischer  Kaiser"  with  him, 
Boyen,  and  the  brave  General  Kleist-Nollendorf.'^  It 
was  a  right  German  festival  to  us  all.  He  called  for 
some  of  the  best  "  Elfer,"t  and  we  drank  and  touched 
glasses.  Now,  again,  after  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  I 
passed  a  few  palmy  weeks  with  him. 

Stein  had  now  become  a  great  German  name. 
People,  invited  and  uninvited,  crowded  round  him,  and 
often  assembled  at  his  tea-table  in  the  evening. 
This  generally  stood  in  a  pretty  garden  belonging  to  a 
house  which  he  had  taken  for  the  summer,  on  the  road 
to  Bornheim.  Here  came  the  Crown  Prince  Ludwig  of 
Bavaria,  burning  like  Stein,  with  a  fiery  enthusiasm  for 
a  new,  free  Germany,  and  at  home  a  declared  opponent 
of  his  father's  premier.  Count  Montgelas.  This  prince, 
friendly  and  amiable  as  he  was,  and  full  of  ardour  for 
the  German  Fatherland,  sometimes  took  me  by  the  arm . 
and  paced  with  rapid  strides  up  and  down  the  walks, 
when  the  youth's  voice — he  was  very  deaf — would 
be  heard  far  beyond  the  garden  hedge,  and  perhaps 
mine  too,  for  I  never  could  whisper  or  talk  softly.  The 
consequence  was,  that  people  who  wanted  to  see  the 
famous  Stein,    and    a    Cro\vn    Prince,    crowded   on    the 

*  F.  H.  Count  von  Ivleist-Nollendorf,  born  in  Berlin,  1763,  fought  under 
Bulow  in  the  war  of  the  Bavarian  Succession.  He  distinguished  himself  in 
the  war  of  1S06,  and  in  1S13  commanded  a  division  of  the  Prussian  army  in 
the  battles  of  Lutzen,  Bautzen,  Dresden,  and  Leipzig.  After  the  peace  he 
held  various  high  commands,  and  retired  in  1S20,  with  the  rank  of  field- 
marshal. 

i*  Rhenish  Mine  of  the  year  iSii. 

20 — 2 


308  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S14. 


promenade  by  the  garden,  and  stood  still  there.  Then 
Stein  would  call  out :  "  Come,  your  Roj^al  Highness,  and 
cool  your  zeal  with  a  cup  of  tea.  You  are  talking  so 
loud  that  the  people  are  standing  still  to  listen,  and 
think  I  am  holding  a  Jacobin  club  here."  And  the  good 
Crown  Prince  laughed,  and  sat  down. 

Here,  too,  I  met  Prince  Hardenberg*  for  the  first 
time,  who  repeated  to  me  the  promises  he  had  pre- 
viously made,  and,  after  this  autumn,  I  received  from 
Prussia  the  stipend  which  had  been  paid  to  me  by  the 
central  administration,  until  I  was  regularly  appointed 
to  a  post  in  the  Prussian  service.  From  Frankfort  Stein 
went  to  his  estates  in  Nassau,  and  there  I  spent  some 
days  with  him  in  August.  I  enjoyed  it  much,  and 
chiefly  my  intercourse  with  a  noble  lady  whom,  though 
I  had  met  her  before,  I  now  learnt  to  know  for  the  first 
time.  This  was  his  elder  sister,  Fraulein  vom  Stein, 
prioress  of  an  institution  for  noble  ladies  at  Homburg 
in  Hesse.  I  had  made  her  acquaintance  in  the  spring 
at  Dietz,  during  a  journey  from  Frankfort  to  Coblentz. 
She   was   a   very  small  and    delicate   woman,   a    little 

*  Karl  August,  Prince  von  Hardenberg,  bom  in  1750,  was  a  native  of 
Hanover,  and  was  for  some  time  ambassador  in  London  ;  but  having  a  mis- 
understanding with  the  Prince  of  Wales,  he  left  the  Hanoverian  service,  and 
entered  that  of  the  Duke  of  Branswick,  from  which  he  passed  into  the 
Prussian  service,  and  in  1795  concluded  the  treaty  of  Basle.  In  1803  he 
entered  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  as  a  substitute  for  Count  Haug- 
witz,  and  during  the  war  of  1806  received  a  kind  of  dictatorial  office,  from 
which  Napoleon  expelled  him  just  before  the  Treaty  of  Tilsit.  In  18 10 
he  was  recalled  and  made  Chancellor  of  State,  and  displayed  extra- 
ordinary tact  in  managing  Napoleon,  while  at  the  same  time  he  pushed 
forward  the  legislative  changes  commenced  by  Stein.  He  guided  Prussia 
through  the  War  of  Liberation,  and  through  the  negotiations  of  Vienna. 
He  continued  in  office  until  his  death  at  Genoa,  1S22  ;  but  he  allowed 
himself  to  be  led  by  the  party  of  the  reaction,  and  his  influence  in  the 
Government  became  gradually  more  nominal  than  real. 


^T.  44.]  Frdideiii  vovi  Stein.  309 


deformed,  over  sixty,  and  with  snow-white  hair.  Her 
Httle  face  beamed,  and  her  beautiful  blue  eyes  shone  like 
stars.  She  was  the  image  of  her  brother,  the  minister — 
the  same  face,  the  same  features,  only  smaller,  and  more 
refined,  and  quieter,  and  gentler,  as  a  woman's  should 
be  ;  the  same  terseness  and  felicity  of  expression  in  con- 
versation ;  the  same  unconscious  wit,  and  almost  more 
originality.  But  at  the  word  originality  I  stop,  for 
there  are  so  many  kinds  oi  counterfeits.  Women 
have  more  clearness  and  more  collectedness,  and,  if 
they  have  real  originality,  may  easily  have  more 
precision  and  pointedness  than  men.  Perhaps  she  had 
more  originality  than  her  brother ;  but  whatever  Herr 
von  Varnhagen  may  say,  who  could  find  no  traces  of 
originality  in  him,  I  think  he  had  plenty  of  a  certain  kind, 
and  that  he  might  very  well  have  spared  some  to  many  a 
sharp  satirical  poor  sinner  without  impoverishing  himself 
But  there  are  some  who  never  can  understand  the  power 
and  simplicity  of  a  great  character  in  which  the  origin- 
ality is  subordinated  and  becomes  almost  invisible,  being 
lost  in  courage,  humiHty,  and  faith^  though  it  is  there, 
and  is  a  necessary  ingredient  in  the  qualities  which  go  to 
make  a  man  of  virtue  and  action.  There  is  a  proverb, 
"  Fulmine  non  grandine."  But  how  should  such  a  great 
wit  understand  that  a  man  may  sometimes  strike  more 
eff"ectively  with  a  club,  than  with  a  hundred  little  darts. 

Anyhow,  Fraulein  vom  Stein  was  original  enough. 
She  was  also  learned  and  well-informed :  knowing  the 
history  of  her  country  and  the  old  German  laws  and 
constitutions,  not  by  rote  but  by  heart.  It  was  touching 
to  see  how  she  stood  by  her  brother,  and  how  all  her 


310  Life  of  Artidt.  [a.d.  1814. 


interests  were  centred  in  him.  It  is  well  known  that 
she  was  concerned  in  the  German  rising  of  1809,  and 
was  carried  away  and  shut  up  as  a  state  prisoner  by  the 
French.  It  was  said  that  she  had  embroidered  and 
blessed  a  banner  for  the  Ritter  von  Dornberg.  She  was 
exceedingly  amiable  and  pleasant  in  society.  So  was 
also  the  minister's  wife,  a  daughter  of  the  former 
Field-Marshal  of  Brunswick,  Count  von  Walmoden,  a 
beautiful  stately  woman,  but  very  gentle,  quiet  and 
grave. 

A  little  incident  took  place  here   in   Nassau  which  I 
will  relate. 

Hetmann  Platofif,*  and  another  Russian  General,  came 
to  dinner  at  Nassau.  After  dinner  we  all,  with  the 
prioress  and  the  minister's  two  young  daughters,  went 
out  into  the  grounds  of  the  castle.  An  old  mason  of 
the  town  of  Nassau,  who  in  days  long  gone  by  had 
been  a  playfellow  of  the  baron,  and  had  always  been 
especially  attached  to  the  family,  had  taken  it  into  his 
head  to  make  representations,  by  the  most  wonderful 
arrangements  of  stones,  moss,  flowers,  and  bushes,  set 
up  in  the  walks  which  run  over  the  heights  and  through 
the  meadows  into  the  park  of  Stein,  of  the  events  and 
sufferings  of  the  Russian  campaign, — the  burning  of 
Moscow,  the  retreat  of  the  French,  the  battle  of 
Leipzig,  etc.  Here  and  there  among  them  were  Stein's 
name  and  coat-of-arms,  surrounded  by  a  wreath.  The 
old   baron  had   already  heard  of  this  performance,  and 

*  Count  Platoff,  the  famous  Cossack  Hetmann,  bom  in  1757,  began  his 
mihtary  career  in  the  Turkish  war  of  1770,  and  afterwards  served  under 
Suwarrow  in  the  Crimea.  He  served  through  the  campaigns  of  1812-14, 
and  his  Cossacks  became  the  terror  of  the  French. 


yET.  44.]  On  Foot  to  Berlin.  3 1 1 

had  looked  stern  about  it,  but  now  when  he  really  saw 
it,  he  went  into  a  violent  passion  and  wanted  to  have  it 
all  destroyed  immediately  :  all  the  skilful  laborious 
work  on  which  the  grateful  old  mason  had  probably 
spent  the  leisure  hours  of  several  weeks.  The  kind 
prioress  was  beside  herself,  but  did  not  venture  to  op- 
pose it,  only  sighing,  "  Ah,  the  poor  man !"  She  got 
hold  of  me  and  several  other  guests  and  induced  us  to 
intercede  for  it,  and  we  succeeded  so  far  that  the  old 
man  went  off  very  much  provoked,  saying,  "  People  will 
think  that  I  am  a  childish  fool,  and  imagine  that  I  have 
conquered  the  world  ;"  but  he  agreed  at  last  to  leave  it 
to  wind  and  weather  to  destroy  the  old  man's  works  of 
art. 

Soon  after,  in  September,  Stein  went  to  Vienna  ;  and 
towards  the  end  of  October  I  set  out  on  a  journey  to 
Berlin.  I  was  glad  to  be  able  to  go  on  foot,  with  my 
sabre  at  my  side  and  my  stick  in  my  hand.  There  is 
no  such  delightful  freedom  as  that  of  the  pedestrian, 
and  whoever  wishes  to  study  national  manners  and  cus- 
toms, should  never  travel  in  any  other  way,  unless  pre- 
vented by  deserts  or  robbers.  To  travellers  in  coaches- 
and-four,  people  shut  their  mouths  or  only  open  them  to 
lie  and  flatter.  But  the  world  belongs  to  the  foot- 
traveller;  he  is  the  equal  of  the  peasant  and  the 
citizen,  and  every  one  speaks  to  him  ;  and  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  men  are  open  to  him.  Those,  too,  who 
travel  in  grand  coaches,  with  four  or  six  horses,  must 
belong  to  the  select  few  of  the  great  civilised  nations  of 
Europe  ;  and,  whatever  may  be  the  peculiar  character- 
istics of  the  different  nations,  the  polish  of  education 


312  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 

reduces  them  to  such  a  uniformity  that  it  matters  Httle 
whether  they  were  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  the 
Neva,  the  Tagus,  or  the  Elbe. 

So  I  went  merrily  through  the  Wetterau,  Hesse,  and 
Westphalia  ;  saw  the  Teutoburger  Wald  and  the  Porta 
Westphalica  ;  spending  some  pleasant  days  with  the 
gallant  old  Hessian,  Dr.  Faust,  in  Biickeburg,  and  then 
proceeding  through  Hanover,  Brunswick,  and  Magdeburg, 
pleasantly  enough,  though,  as  it  was  autumn,  often 
through  storms  of  rain.  I  was  still  strong  enough  not 
to  mind  the  changes  and  severity  of  the  weather. 

Here  I  noticed  something  which  I  will  offer  to  the 
consideration  of  chemists  and  physicists.  I  was  accus- 
tomed to  travel  like  a  fiery  horse,  till  I  was  often  bathed  in 
perspiration.  One  day,  when  I  was  unusually  warm,  I 
noticed  in  my  left  side,  just  where  the  iron  scabbard  of 
my  sabre  touched  me,  a  pricking  in  my  skin,  as  if  I  had 
been  pricked  with  a  needle.  I  felt  it,  in  the  same  place, 
for  some  weeks  after  the  conclusion  of  my  journey. 
My  idea  is  that  there  was  a  great  deal  of  iron  in  my 
blood  at  that  time,  and  that  the  two  metals  being  acted 
upon  by  the  heat,  a  magnetic  connection  was  established 
between  them. 

In  Werder,  near  Potsdam,  a  curious  thing  happened 
to  me.  I  arrived  there  late  in  the  evening,  tired,  wet 
through,  and  wanting  sleep.  I  went  to  the  Black  Eagle 
for  a  night's  lodging,  where  such  a  bad  supper  and  such 
sour  wine  were  set  before  me,  that  I  went  fasting  to  a 
cold  bed.  There  all  Mexico  appeared  to  me  in  a  dream. 
I  have  often  read  flowery  poetry  about  the  Mexicans 
and  Peruvians,  but  the  description  and  representations 


/ET.  4+.]  A  Dream.  31 


0 


never  took  such  hold  of  me  as  to  enable  me  to  form  any 
picture  of  them  in  my  own  imagination.  But  now,  for 
hours,  counting  the  time  by  the  amount  of  what  I  saw 
I  had  before  me  the  most  vivid  representations  of  the 
brightest  figures  and  most  lovely  scenes.  The  past, 
present,  and  future,  and  apparently  the  supernatural, 
were  magically  arranged  in  the  most  enchanting  series 
of  pictures,  so  that  I  woke  in  a  state  of  rapture  in 
my  miserable  bed.  How  did  it  all  come  about  ?  What 
brought  this  lovely  brightly-coloured  picture  of  Mexico 
before  me.?  How  did  I  get  caught  in  this  web  of 
Mexican  flowers  .?  Above  all,  what  is  it  that  conjures 
up  these  wonderful  night  visions,  when  our  judgment, 
which  ought  to  reign  supreme,  seems  to  be  nodding  ? 
What  are  these  gay  little  spirits  which  lie  concealed  in 
the  dark  corners  of  our  brains,  and  produce  in  mysterious 
dream-land  strange  figures  not  only  of  things  done  and 
felt  in  our  lives,  but  pictures  of  the  yet  unborn  future .? 
What  god  or  spirit  is  it  which  can  conjure  up  the  image 
of  a  future  love }  or  is  an  ideal  so  impressed  upon  that 
noblest  part  of  our  being  that  if  it  appears  to  us  in  living 
form  we  are  drawn  to  it  as  with  an  irresistible  magica 
force,  and  cannot  forbear  to  love  .'' 

However  this  may  be,  I  rose  full  of  pleasant  sensa- 
tions, and  to  this  day  have  not  forgotten  the  enchanting 
scenes.  I  swallowed  my  thin  yellow  coffee  contentedly, 
and  wandered  out  to  the  royal  seat  of  Potsdam. 

About  half-way  to  Berlin  I  stopped  for  dinner  at 
a  splendid  hotel,  where  the  water  of  a  little  bay 
of  the  great  Havel  lake  ripples  up  to  the  high-road. 
This    was    the    place    where    the    gifted    Heinrich    von 


314  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 

Kleist,^  whose  society  I  had  much  enjoyed  during  my 
incognito  at  Berlin  in  the  winter  of  1809,  and  a  lady 
had  cut  short  their  lives  by  shooting  one  another. 

I  asked  to  be  shown  the  place  where  they  fell ;  the 
trees  waved  quietly,  and  the  grass  was  green,  and  I 
picked  some  leaves  of  thyme  from  the  spot.  In  the 
room  where  I  dined  sat  a  young  officer,  with  a  very 
pretty,  blue-eyed  blonde.  Like  myself,  busy  with  their 
dinner,  they  had  no  appearance  of  intending  to  cut  short 
their  lives.  They  started  for  the  south,  and  I  for  the 
north,  and  in  the  evening  reached  Reimer's  hospitable 
home,  where  I  found  a  softer  bed,  but  no  Mexican 
dreams.  I  spent  this  autumn  and  winter  of  1814 — 15  in 
Berlin.  I  now  belonged  to  this  state  (Prussia).  After 
my  connection  with  Sweden  was  broken  off,  and  I  found 
myself  without  any  special  attachment  to  any  particular 
German  state.  I  was  much  in  the  condition  of  St. 
Christopher,  on  his  wanderings  in  search  of  a  master. 
And,  in  fact,  in  1810 — ii,  who  had  a  German  master  .-^ 
One  man  was  lord  of  all.     But  when  his  pride  began  to 

*  Heinrich  von  Kleist,  born  1776,  began  life  in  the  Prussian  army  ;  but 
discontented  with  the  military  service,  he  obtained  a  post  under  Govern- 
ment in  Berlin.  His  natural  melancholy,  however,  prevented  him  from 
settling  steadily  to  any  occupation.  He  left  Berlin  and  went  to  Paris,  then 
to  a  lonely  spot  in  Switzerland,  devoting  himself  to  poetry.  Returning  to 
Germany,  a  severe  illness  increased  his  gloom,  and  the  humiliation  of  his 
country,  after  Jena,  weighing  heavily  on  his  spirits,  he  threw  up  his  post. 
He  was  soon  after  unlucky  enough  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  French 
garrison  in  Berlin,  and  -s^-as  sent  prisoner  to  Paris.  After  his  release  he 
settled  in  Dresden,  and  cherished  hopes  that  the  Austrian  war  would  restore 
Germany  to  liberty;  but  the  fatal  campaign  of  1809  crushed  them.  In  deep 
depression  he  returned  to  Berlin,  where  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  lady 
who  was  suffering  from  a  mortal  disease,  and  they  agi-eed  to  put  an  end  to 
lives  which  they  persuaded  themselves  were  of  no  value  to  them  (181 1). 
His  poems  rank  high  as  German  classics. 


^T.  44-]  Arndt  a  Prussian.  315 


yield,  and  the  Scythian  ice  and  snow,  and  the  lances  of 
the    Cossacks  united  to  destroy  this    Colossus,    people 
began    to    look    about    them.       I    already    had    strong 
leanings  towards  the  Prussians,  though  my  old  master 
had  not  hoped  as  much  from  them  in  the  beginning  of 
1 813    as    he    might    have.       He    still    remembered    the 
struggle  of  1809,  when  Austria,  covered  with  honourable 
w^ounds,  had  succumbed — no,  not  succumbed — but  was 
forced  to  sign  a  disastrous  peace,  because  she  was  not 
only  left  to  stand  alone,  but  was  also  attacked  from  the 
east    by    the    Russians.       But    when    the    old    Prussian 
thunder  and  lightning  was  heard  again,  followed  by  the 
victories    of    Walstatt,    Dennewitz,    Wartenburg,    and 
Leipzig,  I  thought  I  saw  a  master  whom  one  stronger 
than  ten   Christophers  might  well  be  glad  to  serve ;  I 
thought  I  perceived  a  power  which  possessed  sufficient 
vitality  to  maintain  and  protect  itself  in  the  future.     I 
became    heart   and   soul  a   Prussian.     The  eyes   of  all 
Germany  had  been  directed,  ever  since  the  autumn,  to 
Vienna,  where  the  Emperors  and  the  Kings  of  Europe, 
with  their  councils,  had  assembled,  in  order  to  try  and 
bring  some  order  out  of  the  chaos  into  which  the  world 
had  fallen,  and  especially  to  arrange  German  affairs.     I 
cannot    den}^  that  I,  and  many  others,  were  very    un- 
justly vexed  and  discontented  when  things  did  not  seem 
to  be  going  right  according  to  our  judgment.     We  often 
grumbled,    certainly   without    reason,    at    the    Prussian 
Chancellor,  Prince  Hardenberg,  because  affairs  did  not 
appear  to  us  to  be  arranged  so  much  for  Germany's 
honour   and    dignity  as   her   services  in  arms,  for   the 
general  benefit  of  Europe,  deserved. 


3i6  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 

We  Germans  always  forget  how  particularly  disadvan- 
tageous our  position  is  in  these  matters  ;  that  when  a 
great  many  with  divided  interests  have  to  contend  with 
one,  or  even  three,  that  one,  on  those  three,  have  an 
immense  advantage  over  them.  They  can  unite  their 
strength  for  one  object,  while  the  advantage  which 
Germany  gains  in  the  field,  she  loses  in  petty  negotia- 
tions concerning  the  divided  interests  of  her  several 
states.  Russia,  England,  France,  and  Spain  were  units 
at  Vienna  ;  Germany  was  a  multitude,  a  very  divided 
and  contentious  multitude,  with  whom  it  was  easy  for 
foreigners  to  play  a  profitable  game.  But  the  curious 
part  of  it  was  that  the  origin  of  all  the  suffering — France, 
conquered,  and  overthrown,  whose  rightful  territory  had 
already  been  restored  to  it  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris — was 
allowed  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  doings  at  Vienna — 
that  the  man  who  so  lately  had  bought  and  sold  the 
German  principalities,  who  was  so  intimately  acquainted 
with  all  our  dissensions,  our  weaknesses,  and  our  faults — 
that  Talleyrand  was  allowed  to  take  a  seat  among  the 
liunourable  friends  and  councillors  of  the  different 
monarchs.  Prince  Hardenberg  certainly  occupied  a 
very  difficult  position,  particularly  as  Prussia,  in  the 
question  of  indemnification,  was  involved  in  every  pos- 
sible German  quarrel  and  dissension,  far  more  than 
Austria,  who  looked  for  her  choice  morsels  in  Italy  and 
round  the  Adriatic.  Hardenberg  was  a  man  of  noble 
birth  and  noble  character,  generous  and  frank,  with 
amiable,  winning  manners,  well-informed,  and  clever ; 
his  honesty  and  loyalty  to  his  King  and  country  were 
undoubted.     But  every  one  knows  that  with  the  same 


yET.  44-]  Congress  of  Vienna.  317 

darinfj   which   took  the  Prussians   to  the  front  on   the 
battlefield,  he  had  proceeded  with  a  straightforwardness 
and  honesty  too  open  and  artless  in  the  beginning  of  the 
negotiations,  without  sufficiently  taking  into  considera- 
tion the  artifice  and  cunning  which  are  inseparable  from 
long  negotiations,  or  considering  the  possibility  of  an 
alteration  either  in  the  disposition  of  people  or  events. 
Thus,  for  example,  he  made  great  cessions  of  Prussian 
territory  to  England  for  its  future  kingdom  of  Hanover, 
without  requiring  from  it  in  return  any  precise  promises 
for    Prussia.     He    consented    to    the    formation    of    the 
kingdom    of    the   Netherlands,   without    clearly    under- 
standing   the   condition   of  the   country  which   was    to 
form    this  new  kingdom,   or  the  political   and    natural 
relations  between  it  and  Prussia.     After  the  battle   of 
Leipzig,  when  Bavaria  wisely  and  fortunately  concluded 
with  Austria  the  Treaty  of  Ried,  which  must  necessarily 
form  the  model  for  any  future  treaty  with  any  member 
of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,   his  attention  was 
directed  more  exclusively  to  the  districts  of  the  Rhine, 
as  it  was  now  clear  to  every  one  that  if  Prussia  was  to 
obtain  any  indemnification  in  Germany,  it  must  be  in 
the   south-west,   for  in    the   centre   there   was   nothing 
further  to  be  obtained. 

In  that  treaty  Austria  wrote  a  P-  before  Prussia; 
but  no  German  could  wish  that  Prussia  should  receive 
her  indemnification  in  the  East  at  the  expense  of  Poland, 
for  any  pretended  increase  and  strengthening  of  Prussia 
in  that  direction  would  be  only  a  source  of  weakness  to 

*  To  write  a  P  before  anything  :  i.e.  to  set  a  mark  upon  it,  from  the 
custom  of  writing  a  P  upon  the  door  of  a  house  infected  with  plague. 


3 1 8  L  ife  of  A  rndt.  [a.  d.  i  8  i  4. 

that  country  and  the  whole  of  Germany.  There  were 
three  countries  the  possession  of  which  was  most  dis- 
puted at  Vienna — Poland,  the  kingdom  of  Saxony,  and 
the  districts  on  the  Rhine  and  the  Meuse  which  had 
been  re-conquered  from  France. 

I  know  that  many  Prussians,  especially  those  who 
were  generals,  or  who  might  become  such,  would  have 
preferred  Saxony — the  whole  of  Saxony — to  any  other 
compensation.  I  have  heard  many  complain  of  the  ex- 
tension of  Prussian  territory  beyond  the  Rhine.  For 
my  part,  I  troubled  myself  little  about  these  disputes 
over  Saxony.  Saxony  being  in  the  centre  of  Germany, 
if  we  did  not  fall  back  again  into  the  state  of  internal 
dissension  which  seemed  to  invite  the  intervention  of 
foreigners,  must  remain  part  of  Germany,  and  stand  or 
fall  with  it.  But  it  was  quite  another  thing  with  Poland 
and  the  countries  round  the  Meuse,  the  Moselle,  and  the 
Rhine.  These  were  surrounded  by  powerful  enemies, 
who  would  be  only  too  glad  to  create  weakening  dis- 
sensions and  quarrels  among  them.  A  Prussian  chan- 
cellor could  not  be  indifferent  to  this  danger.  If  Prussia 
were  to  advance  its  borders  to  the  Rhine,  and  that  she 
could  not  avoid  doing,  he  must  take  care  that  she  was 
prepared  to  act  as  the  champion  of  the  German  people. 
Many  things  which  were  considered  settled  were  still 
very  doubtful — even  after  the  Treaty  of  Rjed  the  affairs 
of  Saxony  and  its  king  admitted  of  several  different 
solutions — and  the  country  would  be  contested  and 
fought  for  to  the  very  last ;  considering  dispassionately 
these  possibilities,  or  rather  probabilities,  it  was  better 
to   choose  a  field  which  had  as  yet  no  master.     This 


^T.  44-]         Prussian   Territory  on  the  Rhine.  319 

field  was  the  newly-won  Rhenish  districts — the  splendid 
ancient  Austrasia.     The  opinion  of  short-sighted  gene- 
rals, that  Prussia  would  lengtlien  herself  too  much  by 
the  possession  of  territories  on  the  Rhine,  and  that  her 
military  power  would  be  thereby  weakened,  must  have 
no  weight  with  him.     This  was  both  an  absurdity  and 
an   untruth  ;    an   absurdity,   for  the   campaigns   of  this 
century  had  proved  that  whoever  held  the  Rhine  could 
soon  reach  the  Elbe,  the  Weser,  and  the  Inn,  and  that 
therefore  it  was  madness  to  entrust  this  part  to  weak 
princes,  and  then,  when  foreigners  had  broken  into  the 
country,  to  be  obliged  to  march  against  them  from  the 
Oder  and  the  Elbe.     Either  they  did  not  know,  or  they 
had  forgotten,  that  the  great  Elector  had  been  obliged 
to  fight  for  the  empire  in  Alsace,  Brabant,  and  Holland, 
and   Frederick   I.  and  Frederick  William   I.  also  expe- 
rienced the  same  necessity.     And   so,  however  many- 
possessions  the  King  might  have  on  the  Elbe,  the  Saale, 
the  Weser,  in  Saxony  and  in  Westphalia,  he  must  ad- 
vance and  make  himself  strong  on  the  Rhine  to  secure 
the  safety  of  Germany  in  the  East  and  West.     It  was 
also  an   untruth.      It   was  only  six   days'  march  from 
Cologne,  Coblentz,  and  Wesel  to  the  very  heart  of  those 
beautiful  lands  where  the  contest  must  really  be  fought 
out.     However,  for  Saxony  they  struggled  hard,  they 
made  themselves  mortal  enemies,  they  would  have  died, 
and,  alas !  that  I  must  say  it,  they  patiently  and  good- 
temperedly  let  foreigners  tear  these  other  lands  to  pieces 
as  if  that  were  of  no  consequence.     I  am  still  perfectly 
convinced  that  if  the  subject  of  these  important  boun- 
daries had  been  wisely  and  firmly  managed,  a  much 


320  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814. 

better  result  would  have  been  obtained  than  in  the 
miserable  quarrel  about  Saxony.  England,  indeed, 
with  the  Prince  of  Orange  and  his  Dutch  and  German 
councillors,  had  cut  out  a  new  Austrasian  kingdom.  ; 
but  just  because  Hardenberg  was  aware  of  this,  he 
should  have  watched  the  land  with  the  eye  of  a  falcon, 
and  not  have  left  its  future  destiny  to  accident.  England 
had  received  from  Prussia,  in  return  for  loans  of  money, 
arms,  and  other  supplies,  the  promise  of  whole  districts 
— East  Friesland,  Hildesheim,  and  a  part  of  the  district 
of  Miinster.  Hardenberg  need  not  have  played  the 
generous  to  England  and  Holland. 

On  the  part  of  Holland  there  was  much  to  be  deducted. 
Had  Austria  insisted  upon  the  Italian  princes  paying 
many  millions  for  the  reconquest  of  Italy  ?  Prussia  had 
conquered  Holland  and  most  of  the  Belgian  districts  and 
fortresses  at  the  cost  of  its  best  blood,  and  had  resigned 
all  the  artillery  and  baggage  and  a  great  deal  besides 
gratuitously  to  those  strict-reckoning  merchants.  And 
what  did  we  get  for  it .''  We  did  not  even  divide  the 
IMeuse  and  its  fortresses  with  the  new  kingdom,  but  let 
the  Dutch,  with  their  usual  niggardliness  and  crafty 
procrastination,  fix  for  us  the  weakest  and  most  insecure 
boundaries,  which  will  prove  a  great  source  of  danger  in 
future.  These  people  had  suddenly  become  so  hungry 
for  territory,  that  they  would  have  liked  to  have 
swallowed  up  the  whole  of  Germany  as  far  as  the  Moselle, 
though  it  would  have  proved  an  indigestible  morsel  to 
them,  even  more  so  than  to  Belgium.  With  a  still  worse 
policy,  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Rhineland  was  torn 
tup  into  half  a  dozen  scraps  and  distributed  as  choice 


^T.  44.]       Jealousies  of  the  Gcrvian  Princes.  321 

morsels  among  several  princes.  France  laughed  in  her 
sleeve,  but  all  clear-sighted  friends  of  Germany  mourned. 
It  would  have  been  better  to  have  fought  for  the  Rhine- 
lands  than  for  Saxony.  Prussia  had  made  her  position 
at  Vienna  worse  by  not  having  had  the  foresight  to  insist 
upon  the  recognised  do  tit  des  in  her  negotiations  v/ith 
England  concerning  the  cession  of  territory  to  Hanover, 
and  not  having  established  matters  on  such  a  firm  basis 
that  England  and  Prussia  could  act  in  concert  until 
affairs  were  settled  in  Vienna.  There  were  some  short- 
sighted, narrow-minded  Germans  who,  at  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  negotiations  in  Vienna,  had  taken  part 
with  England  and  Hanover  against  Prussia  ;  not  traitors 
inspired  by  mere  hatred,  but  moved  by  the  old  German 
jealousy  and  by  the  miserable  fear  lest  some  great  light 
should  rise  in  Germany  that  should  show  how  very  short 
the  shadows  of  the  others  were.  They  called  it  anxiety 
for  the  liberty  of  Germany.  Nevertheless,  they  had  all 
suffered  in  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years  from  the  fearful 
punishment  which  discord  and  helplessness  had  brought 
upon  all,  one  after  the  other.  And  yet  before  their 
scars  were  healed  the  old  failing  showed  itself  again,  and 
the  Roman  proverb  was  quite  forgotten — "  The  states  of 
Greece,  wishing  each  to  rule  alone,  lost  their  liberty 
altogether." 

England,  too,  forgot  the  words  of  the  great  Pitt,  which 
he  left  as  a  testament  to  his  friends — that  if  the  Rhine- 
lands  and  Belgium  should  be  conquered  in  some  success- 
ful war,  Austrasia  must  be  given  to  Prussia,  she  having 
been  the  champion  in  the  west,  as  Austria  had  been  in 
the  south-east.      But  the  great  Pitt,  with  his  sublime 

21 


322  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1814 


ideas   on   the    pacification  of  Europe,  had  long  passed 
away,  and  Lord  Castlereagh  and  his  associates  were  in- 
capable of  such  sentiments.     And  it  was  from  England 
and  from  a  poor-spirited,  narrow-minded  German,  the 
Hanoverian  Minister,  Count  von   Munster,  that  Prussia 
received  the  most  decisive  checks.     He,  with  some  of  his 
partisans,  who  called  themselves  German  patriots,  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  envious  intriguing  party  who 
conspired  against  Prussia,  being  supported  by  the  English 
ministers,  who  saw   everything  with  his    eyes.       Som.e 
have  said  of  Hardenberg,  certainly  with  injustice,  that 
being  a   Hanoverian  by  birth,  he   did   not   oppose  the 
machinations  of  this  party  with  sufficient   firmness.     It 
may  have  been  partly  true  that,  without  any  suspicion  of 
evil,  he  yielded  too  much  to  the  influence  of  one  whom 
the  Prussians  accused  of  tortuous  dealings.     This  was  a 
Baron  von  Hardenberg.     He  was,  as  Herr  von  Hormayr 
has  described  him  in  his  "  Historisches  Taschenbuch" 
for  1839,  one  of  those  prying,  insinuating  figures  who, 
with   apparent   insignificance   and   want    of    character, 
always  contrive  to  beat  the  bush  in  the  diplomatic  field 
so  as  to  drive  the  game  across  the  path  of  the  right  hunts- 
man.    He  had  played  the  part  of  a  harmless  Brutus  so 
successfully,  that  even  the  French,  when  they  overflowed 
Vienna  and  the  whole  of  Austria  in  the  year  1809,  left 
him  undisturbed.     This  disguised  Brutus  now  attached 
himself  to  his  cousin,  the  Chancellor,  to  whom  he  was 
able  to  render  many  little  services  through  his  connections 
and  acquaintances  in  the  Austrian  capital,  scarcely  leav- 
ing his  side  for  a  moment  during  his  residence  in  Vienna. 
While  pretending  to  have  neither  opinions  nor  desires 


JET.  44.]  Talkyrand  at    Vienna.  323 

and  holding  himself  carefully  aloof  from  every  political 
party  in  his  familiar  social  intercourse  with  the  Chancellor, 
he  contrived  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  his  most 
secret  thoughts  and  plans,  and,  so  the  Prussians  said,  be- 
trayed everything  to  Count  Miinster.  It  was  natural 
that  Talleyrand  should  attach  himself  to  this  English- 
Hanoverian  party,  and  help  them  to  spin  their  webs.  It 
was  touching  to  hear  what  beautiful  sermons  the  wolf 
preached  to  the  sheep  and  the  calves,  and  with  what 
unction  this  Frenchman,  speaking  in  the  name  of  a 
people,  who,  if  their  arms  had  been  long  enough,  would 
have  crushed  the  life  out  of  every  foreign  opponent, 
talked  of  political  moderation  and  justice,  and  of  the 
great  importance  to  Europe  of  respecting  and  preserving 
all  the  little  German  nationalities,  and  every  shade  of 
difference  which  remained  to  mark  the  several  German 
races. 

So  the  political  folly  and  envy  which  looks  upon  the 
rise  of  any  German  power  as  dangerous,  succeeded  only 
too  well  in  its  efforts  against  Prussia.  Whatever  Napo- 
leon had  created,  or  added  to,  was  looked  upon  as  a 
thing  not  to  be  touched.  Many  httle  German  princes 
were  rewarded  with  lands  and  subjects,  as  if  it  were 
they  especially  who  had  saved  the  country.  England, 
Russia,  and  Austria  took  good  care  of  themselves  ;  but 
Prussia,  who  had  done  and  suffered  most  in  this  Holy 
War,  was  left  with  a  smaller  territory  than  it  had  pos- 
sessed in  1S06,  a  smaller  number  of  subjects,  and  with 
the  weakest  of  frontiers  in  the  south-west,  where  it 
touches  couchant  France  and  covetous  Holland. 

21 — 2 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   YEAR    1815. 

Return  of  Napoleon. — Arndt  goes  to  the  Rhine. — Mutiny  of  the  Saxon 
troops. — Battle  of  Waterloo. — Stein  and  Goethe  in  Cologne.  The  terms 
of  peace. — The  "  \Yatchman. " — A  visit  to  Berlin,  Riigen,  etc.— Sequel  to 
the  "  History  of  Serfdom." 

Just  at  this  moment,  when  every  one  at  Vienna  had 
his  hands  full  of  work,  and  friendships  and  alliances 
were  cooling  under  the  influences  of  embarrassments, 
intrigues,  and  quarrels,  suddenly  came  the  news  that  on 
the  last  day  of  February,  18 15,  Napoleon  had  left  the 
island  of  Elba,  that  he  had  landed  in  the  south  of 
France  with  some  hundreds  of  men,  and  was  marching  up 
the  valley  of  the  Rhone  into  the  heart  of  the  country. 

Soon  followed  the  tidings  that  his  march  had  changed 
into  a  triumphal  procession  to  Paris,  generals  and 
common  soldiers  alike  falling  to  him,  and  joining  his 
standard.  Louis  XVIII.,  forsaken  by  all,  had  fled  into 
Belgium,  and  the  Allies  must  send  their  armies  again 
over  the  Rhine  and  Alps  to  renew  the  struggle  with  the 
dangerous  Corsican. 

About  two  months  before  ''the  wolf  escaped  from  his  cage," 
Arndt  had  written  a  paper  entitled  "  Will  the  ruler  of  Elba  ever 
again  govern  Europe  ?" — interesting,  because  it  shows  that  the 
return  from  Elba  was  not  quite  the  complete  surprise  it  is 
generally  thought.  It  could  not  at  the  time  pass  the  censor- 
ship, but  it  was  afterwards  published  in  the  "Watchman." 


/ET.  45-]  Return  of  Napoleon.  32 


O-D 


In  this  he  quotes  a  judgment  which  he  had  already  pro- 
nounced in  his  pamphlet  on  "  The  relations  of  England  and 
France  to  Europe,"  "  Ueber  das  Verhaltniss  Englands  und 
Frankreichs  zu  Europa,"  that  "Napoleon  is  not  so  7iniguea.s 
many  have  thought  him.  The  Napoleon  of  18 13  and  18 15  is  no 
longer  the  Napoleon  of  1796  and  1797.  ,  .  .  Suppose  that 
he  come  back  again,  which  at  least  is  not  impossible,  he  may 
cause  agitations  and  tumults  enough — he  may  cause  much  mis- 
fortune to  France,  and  some  even  to  our  Fatherland,  but  he 
will  never  regain  the  old  dominion,  he  vnW  never  repossess  him- 
self of  the  '  great  French  Empire,'  as  the  vain-glorious  nation 
calls  itself  with  such  boastful  self-complacency." 
E.  iNI.  A.  to  Georg  Reimer. 

"Greifswald,  April  5,  1815. 

"I  received  your  letter  of  the  30th  to-day.  I  am  driven  out 
again,  and  must  leave  my  affairs  for  the  most  part  in  confusion. 
But  I  cannot  get  away  very  well  within  eight  days — then  back 
to  Berlin — then  to  the  Rhine,  where  one  must  use  every  means 
to  rouse  the  people,  as  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet. 

"The  ogre  is  among  us  again,  I  hope  for  our  honour  and 
happiness,  and  for  his  disgrace  and  shame.  If  only  the  Prussians 
now  will  seize  their  arms  and  stand  firm,  and  not  do  things  by 
halves  !  Necessity  must  teach  and  effect  that  which  no  sense  of 
duty  will  force  cupidity  and  depravity  to  do,  or  even  to  listen  to. 
If  Louis  XVIII.  could  only  hold  a  few  places  on  the  border  ! 
Lille  would  be  of  infinite  importance  to  us  I  It  is  the  chief 
place  on  the  west,  and  the  gate  by  which  you  enter  France." 

E.  M.  A.  to  G.  Reimer. 

"Aix-la-Chapelle,  May  8,  1815. 
"  Isly  journey  here,  my  dear  friend,  with  Treu,  has  been  suc- 
cessfully accomplished.  I  shall  remain  from  five  to  eight  days 
here,  and  then  shall  probably  go  to  Cologne,  and  see  whether 
I  can  succeed  in  infusing  a  few  drops  of  pure  German  faith  into 
the  breasts  of  the  people.  I  have  come  to-day,  early,  from  the 
head-quarters  at  Liege,  where  I  saw  and  spoke  to  Gneisenau, 
Grolmann,  Miiffiing,  Bardeleben,  and  other  friends  and  acquaint- 


326  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  181 5. 

ances.  They  are  burning  with  the  desire  that  matters  may- 
soon  come  to  a  point  with  the  foreign  dogs,  and  are  incessantly 
spurring  on  Wellington,  who,  it  is  reported,  has  now  received 
permission  from  the  Allies  to  begin.  According  to  letters  from 
Paris,  Bonaparte  sent  notice  that  he  should  be  at  Maubeuge 
on  May  6,  but  he  has  not  arrived.  Two  of  his  regiments  of 
the  Guards  have  been  lately  drawn  off  towards  Brittany,  which 
perhaps  is  no  bad  sign.  The  French  troops,  which  hitherto 
have  been  more  to  the  west,  opposed  to  the  Anglo-Belgian 
army,  have  now  marched  farther  to  the  east,  and  appear  to 
intend  to  take  up  a  position  on  the  Meuse,  between  Givet  and 
Mezieres,  opposite  the  Prussians.  They  must  be  somewhat 
stronger  than  the  Prussians  there,  who  estimate  themselves  at 
about  60,000  combatants.  Yet  these  are  firmly  convinced  that 
they  will  beat  the  foreigners  wherever  they  find  them." 

Thither  (to  the  Rhine)  I  went  in  April,  which  I  had 
previously  intended  to  do,  only  I  had  meant  to  go  a 
little  later.  For  my  thoughts  and  hopes,  not  without 
the  approbation  of  my  superiors,  were  all  directed  to- 
wards the  Rhine  and  the  Prussian  University  which  was 
to  be  founded  there. 

I  wanted  to  be  better  acquainted  with  the  Rhine  and 
its  people.  I  wanted  to  learn  to  be  at  home  there.  I 
was  now  freed  from  all  ties — good  or  bad — and  could 
choose  my  own  place  of  residence.  Some  of  my 
friends  were  pleased  to  call  me  a  vagabond — a  word 
which  the  Pomeranian  peasants  change  into  "  Vagel- 
bund — thinking  of  birds  of  passage.*  My  name,  in 
fact,  means  a  bird.t  Yet  I  would  not  wish  that  such  a 
comparison  should  be  carried  too  far ! 

*  Vogel,  a  bird. 

t  Amen,  to  move  quickly,  to  fly.     "Arend,"  an  eagle,  comp.  English 
"erne." 


^T.  45.]  Mutiny  of  the  Saxon   Troops.  327 

I  spent  the  first  month  in  Aix-la-Chapelle,  that  I 
might  be  near  enough  to  watch  the  preparations  for 
war  and  the  movements  in  Belgium.  It  was  then  that 
the  trouble  arose  in  Liege,  with  the  unhappy  battalions 
of  Royal  Saxons,  which  according  to  the  Treaty  of 
Vienna  were  to  be  divided  between  Saxony  and 
Prussia.  They  demanded  to  be  shown  the  orders  of 
their  King.  An  angry  mob  assembled  and  tried  to 
storm  Marshal  Bliicher's  palace. 

It  would  have  been  a  pretty  thing  if  they  had  suc- 
ceeded. They  would  have  murdered  the  old  hero 
Bliicher,  Gneisenau,  and  the  flower  of  the  Prussian  staff, 
who  were  all  assembled  in  the  house.  But  while  these 
Saxons  were  raging  outside,  the  guard  of  the  palace, 
who  were  their  fellow-countrymen,  did  their  duty  man- 
fully, and  defended  the  doors  which  the  insurgents  were 
trying  to  break  open,  giving  the  generals  time  to 
escape  by  a  back  door,  mount  their  horses,  and  get  to  a 
place  of  safety. 

I  came  to  Lie^e  with  Colonel  Riihle  von  Lilienstern 
the  day  before  that  on  w^hich  the  old  field-marshal 
addressed  the  Saxons  and  Prussians  who  were  in  the 
town  on  the  subject  of  this  uproar,  both  praising  and 
admonishing  them.  I  went  at  the  appointed  hour  to 
the  place  where  the  old  man  was  to  speak.  He  looked 
like  the  god  Mars,  and  spoke  magnificently.  The  be- 
ginning of  his  speech  was  ordinary  and  commonplace 
(I  was  told  it  was  written  for  him  by  a  general  who  was 
clever  with  his  pen),  but  he  soon  broke  through  these 
bounds,  and,  with  all  the  fire  of  his  nature,  hit  about 


328  Life  of  Aj'udt.  [a.d.  1S15. 

like  a  true  hussar,  perfectly  regardless  of  his  dative  and 
accusative. 

I  remember  the  conclusion,  which  ran  thus:  "No,  the 
French  shall  not  rejoice  that  they  have  fetched  back 
their  Bonaparte,  and  that  they  have  heard  of  Germans 
mutinying  against  their  general.  Before  them,  and  on 
their  frontiers,  we  are  no  longer  Saxons  and  Prussians ; 
we  are  all  Germans,  will  remain  Germans,  and  as  Ger- 
mans will  conquer  or  die.  I  have  sworn  it,  and  you 
swear  with  me.  I  will  never  cross  the  Rhine  again  ex- 
cept as  a  victor  or  a  corpse." 

I  again  realised  the  power  which  had  made  this 
strong  man,  distinguished  by  no  special  knowledge  or 
breadth  of  view,  a  German  champion. 

About  the  middle  of  May  I  went  to  Cologne,  where 
I  established  myself  for  a  time.  Here,  during  the  whole 
summer,  there  were  plenty  of  warlike  sights  and  much 
enthusiasm.  Several  people  from  my  home,  some  of 
whom  were  relations,  came  through  on  their  way  to  join 
the  Prussian  army  as  volunteers.  I  remember  I  went 
with  them  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  intending  to  cross 
to  Deutz,  entertain  them  there,  and  go  a  little  way 
farther  with  them  in  the  evening.  My  little  fourteen- 
year-old  boy,  with  his  long  fair  hair,  ran  by  our  side, 
carrying  one  of  the  horsemen's  great  sabres  under  his 
arm.  He  was  pretty  and  slight,  and  his  hair  made  him 
look  almost  like  a  girl.  Some  women  ran  after  him, 
crying,  to  his  annoyance,  "  It's  a  girl,  a  pretty  girl,  run- 
ning after  the  hussars."  Others,  looking  more  closely 
at  him,  said,  "  Ah  !  poor  young  fellow,  what  is  he  going 
to  the  war  for  ?" 


MT.  45.]  Talleyrand  at  Cologne.  329 


Soon  after  came  Talleyrand,  hurrying  after  his 
Louis  XVIII.  to  Ghent.  I  was  with  the  commandant, 
Colonel  von  Ende,  a  brave  but  rather  quick-tempered 
man,  when  a  messenger  came  from  him  to  ask  the 
colonel  to  send  some  gendarmes  to  escort  him  a  few 
stages  on  his  journey. 

For  the  old  rogue  had  been  frightened  by  the  not  very 
respectful  way  in  which  "  Frenchman"  was  called  after 
him.  He  did  not  understand  the  extent  of  German 
patience,  and  it  would  not  have  been  advisable  for  a  Ger- 
man Talleyrand  to  have  made  a  journey  through  France, 
after  playing  a  similar  part,  without  a  strong  escort. 

Ende  was  offended  at  the  imputation,  but  sent  the 
desired  escort,  saying,  "  I  would  rather  strike  the  wicked 
old  fox  dead." 

So,  during  the  whole  summer,  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances were  passing  through  on  their  way  to  or  from 
Paris,  for  Cologne  was  on  the  high-road  of  the  war. 
It  was  amusing,  and  made  the  time  pass  pleasantly. 
It  may  be  asked  why  I  did  not  visit  Paris  or 
Vienna  in  these  years,  I  knew  my  place  better.  I 
was  but  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  and 
what  should  I  have  done  there  ?  What  should  I  have 
done  in  a  place  where  the  great  ones  were  casting  lots 
for  lands,  cutting  them  up,  and  joining  them  together  as 
they  pleased  t  And  it  would  have  given  me  little 
pleasure  to  go  and  amuse  myself  in  Paris  at  the  expense 
of  the  tamed  and  conquered  French. 

E.  M.  A.  to  Frau  von  Kathen. 

"  Cologne,  June  21,  1S15. 
"  God  has  given  us  success  and  victory  over  the  wicked. 
After  a  three  days'  bloody  struggle  on  the  15th,  i6th,  and  i8th, 


;3o  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1815. 


Blucher  and  Wellington  have  completely  defeated  Satan  Bona- 
parte, and  turned  to  flight  his  bandit  troops.  This  is  the  be- 
ginning. God  will  continue  to  help  us,  and  make  even  the  follies 
and  wickedness  of  certain  men  to  further  His  work.  .  .  . 

"  The  wild,  tumultuous  time  carries  me  awa)',  and  often 
plunges  me  into  too  bitter  and  wild  feelings,  and  then  I  come 
back  to  myself  with  much  painful  self-reproach ;  and  in  such 
moments  I  feel  deeply,  and  have  often  felt,  that  I  am  without 
dear,  confidential,  considerate  friends,  who  might  soften  and 
calm  me,  and  that  I  am  alone  among  strangers.  I  have  indeed 
a  good  safe  friend  in  my  Karl  Treu ;  but  the  youth  should  be 
left  in  his  quiet  life,  and  least  of  all  should  he  be  carried  away 
by  his  feelings.  I  must  show  myself  to  him  and  to  the  world  as 
calm  and  unruffled  as  I  can,  and  he  must  not  know  how  bitter 
is  the  pain  at  my  heart. 

"  I  am  here  in  an  old  German  town,  which  has  much  that 
is  venerable  and  beautiful  in  art.  Only  I  have  litde  time 
to  enjoy  it,  except  as  far  as  I  can  do  in  evening  walks." 

ElCHHORN  to  E.  M.  A, 

"  Berlin,  June  24th,  18 15. 
"  I  write  to  you,  dear  Arndt,  in  the  midst  of  the  excitement 
into  which  Berlin  has  been  thrown  by  the  arrival  of  a  courier 
to-day  with  the  news  of  Bliicher's  victory.  Yesterday's  unpub- 
lished report  of  the  unfortunate  occurrences  of  the  15  th  and 
1 6th  had  caused  no  little  suspense,  so  that  the  ray  of  joy  was 
shot  into  them  with  the  more  power  and  set  them  on  fire, 
and  every  one  left  his  business,  and  the  streets  were  crowded 
with  a  surging,  tumultuous  multitude.  In  the  unending  shouts 
of  joy  could  be  distinguished  very  clearly  the  names  of  Blucher 
and  Gneisenau.  .  .  .  Now,  old  friend,  you  may  speak  again  to 
the  people  freely  and  boldly,  and  say  out  of  your  full  heart 
whatever  you  feel  impelled  to  say,  and  whatever,  in  the  excited 
feeling  of  the  present  time,  you  think  is  necessary  for  your 
object." 

E.  M.  A.  to  G.  Reimer. 

"Cologne,  JulySth,  1815. 
"  I  received  your  letter,  my  very  dear  friend,  almost  at  the 


;et.  45.]  After   Waterloo.  33 


I 


same  time  \Yith  the  news  of  the  death  of  ray  dear  brother 
Friedrich,  which  crushed  me  for  some  days.  I  have  lost  in 
him  one  of  my  dearest  and  truest  friends,  and  the  world  an 
honest  man.  He  was  one  of  those  rare  spirits  which  the  wodd 
seldom  recognises,  and  which  often  shut  themselves  up  in  them- 
selves too  much. 

"  Everything  is  going  on  well,  if  only  the  pen  does  not  spoil  the 
work  of  the  sword.  God  is  visibly  with  us,  but  the  cunning 
Jews  are  alive  again  with  their  treachery  and  political  hypocrisy. 
Nothing  has  reached  me  from  head- quarters,  and  no  couriers  at 
all  pass  through  Cologne,  so  I  can  send  you  nothing  new  or 
interesting.  Besides,  the  greatest  event  of  the  war  seems  to 
me  to  have  already  taken  place  in  the  battle  of  Belle  Alliance. 

E.  M.  Arndt  to  Frau  von  Kathen. 

"July2  8lh,  1815. 
"  God  has  blessed  us  greatly ;  and  in  the  German  people 
also  may   be    seen  so   much   that    is    great  and   daring   that 
something  greater  still  must  follow.      Therefore   we  must  all 
prepare   ourselves    with    force   and  honesty,  that  we  be   not 
unworthy  forerunners  of  that  better  age  that  is  to  come  for 
Germany.    I  hope  they  will  do  what  is  right  now,  and  place  those 
heathens  in  such  a  position  that  they  may  keep  still  for  the  next 
ten  years.     We  will  not  sleep  indeed,  but  we  shall  all  be  out  of 
breath  if  the  age  continues  to  advance  with  such  giant  steps.  .  .  . 
"  There  are  many  pleasant  things  here,  much  that  is  entirely 
so,  although  the  foreigners  have  ruled  here  for  twenty  years. 
Whatever  has  retained  its  vitality  is  now  rising  again  with  joy- 
ful elasticity.     I  made  a  journey  lately  with  Treu  to  Bonn,  and 
to  the  glorious  Siebengebirge,  where  we  stood  on  an  old  casde 
1800  feet  above  the  Rhine;  we  were  very  much  refreshed  by  some 
brave  people  whom  we  learned  to  know  in   Bonn,  and  by  our 
hosts  in  Obercassel,  on  the  Rhine,  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
(German)  from  Bonn.     To-day  Stein  was  here  with  Goethe,  and 
excited  very  lively  interest.     It  will  be  still  more  lively  when 
Rubens'  St.  Peter,  a  birthday  gift  (he  was  baptised  in  St.  Peter's 
Church)  comes  back  from  the  Paris  Museum." 


332  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1815. 

In  the  summer  of  1S15  Stein  came  to  Cologne,  where 
I  was  then  residing,  not  long  before  his  second  journey 
to  Paris.  He  sent  a  servant  to  tell  me  to  come  to  the 
cathedral,  where  I  should  find  him.  Just  at  the  same 
moment  his  assistant  Eichhorn,  just  fresh  from  Berlin, 
and  on  his  way  to  Paris,  where  he  was  to  work  as  the 
assistant  of  the  Prussian  minister.  Baron  von  Altenstein, 
came  to  give  me  a  morning  greeting.  Eichhorn,  as  a 
very  scientific  man,  had  been  specially  recommended  to 
the  Chancellor  for  the  work  of  fetching  away  from  the 
French  Napoleonic  lion's  den,  Paris,  the  German 
monuments  of  art,  libraries,  and  documents,  etc.,  part 
of  the  booty  which  the  first  civilised  nation  of  Europe, 
as  they  had  always  called  themselves,  had  collected 
with  the  most  shameless  rapacity  from  all  countries. 
I  told  him,  "  Stein  is  here  ;  we  shall  find  him  in  the 
cathedral ;"  and  we  went  thither  immediately.  He 
greeted  us  most  kindly,  and  whom  did  we  see  not  far 
from  him }  There  stood  the  greatest  German  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  after  Stein, — Wolfgang  Goethe,  ex- 
amining the  cathedral.  Stein  said  to  us  :  "  Children,  hush  ! 
hush !  nothing  political !  he  won't  like  it.  We  cannot, 
indeed,  praise  him  for  that ;  but  still,  he  is  too  great !" 

The  two  great  Germans  conducted  themselves  won- 
derfully towards  each  other,  with  a  kind  of  mutual 
reverence ;  it  was  the  same,  too,  at  the  inn  over  our  tea, 
when  Goethe  was,  for  the  most  part,  very  silent,  and 
withdrew  to  his  room  very  earl}-.  How  had  the  tv/o 
happened  to  meet,  and  then  come  together  to  Cologne  ? 
Goethe  had  been  revisiting  his  native  city,  and  some  old 
friends  and  acquaintances.    This  had  given  him  heart,  and 


MT.  45. J  Stein  and  Goethe.  333 

he  had  gone  over  the  road  which  he  had  traversed  as  a 
joyous,  gifted  youth — the  road  which  runs  by  Wetzlar 
along  the  Lahn,  and  through  its  beautiful  valleys  to 
Nassau,  Coblentz,  Ehrenbreitstein,  and  Valendar.  Stein 
heard  in  his  castle  the  news  that  Goethe  was  staying  in 
Nassau  at  the  Lion  Inn.  He  went  straight  to  the 
Lion,  and  constrained  him,  though  reluctantly,  to  come 
to  the  house.  Goethe  was  intending  to  make  an  ex- 
pedition to  Cologne,  so  Stein  had  his  carriage  out,  and 
together  they  drove  down  the  Rhine  as  far  as  Cologne. 
I  can  quite  understand  how  the  fellow-travellers  would 
avoid  any  collision  with  one  another ;  it  was  ^sop's 
journey  of  the  iron  and  the  earthenware  pots.  And  so 
they  behaved  to  one  another  in  Cologne.  I  never  heard 
Stein's  voice  in  company  so  gentle. 

Here  I  was  able  to  study  our  hero  Goethe  for  a 
couple  of  days,  very  much  at  my  ease,  and  to  enjoy  his 
splendid  countenance — the  wide  lofty  forehead,  and  the 
exceedingly  beautiful  brown  eyes,  which,  ever  well  opened 
and  steady,  and  with  an  expression  of  deep  thought, 
firmly  met  every  opposing  eye  or  object  ;  and  yet  I  was 
convinced  that  I  was  right  in  what  I  had  before  noticed 
in  his  carriage,  that  there  was  a  slight  want  of  propor- 
tion in  the  handsome  figure  of  the  old  man.  When  he 
stood,  I  could  see  that  his  figure  had  a  certain  stiffness 
and  awkwardness,  his  legs  were  six  or  seven  inches  too 
short.  Goethe  was  now  "His  Excellency"  and  a  minister, 
and,  in  truth,  one  of  the  most  excellent  excellencies  of 
the  Fatherland  ;  but  here  in  Cologne,  when  some  of  the 
young  officers  who  were  residing  there  came  to  pay 
their  respects  to  him,  such  as  those  whose  fathers  and 


334  Life  of  Arndi.  [a.d.  1815. 

cousins  he  knew,  Thuringians  and  others,  ministers'  sons, 
barons'  sons — among  them  the  eldest  son  of  William 
Humboldt — boys  to  whom  Stein  would  not  have  un- 
covered, nor  even  I  myself,  Goethe  behaved  as  if  he 
were  quite  their  inferior. 

Stein  went  on  to  Paris,  but  came  back  in  the  autumn. 
He  appeared  at  the  beginning  of  October,  accompanied 
by  quite  a  different  guest,  the  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar, 
and  it  was  pleasant  to  the  uninitiated  to  see  how  well 
he  understood  the  art  of  living  with  princes.  The 
prince,  gay,  lively,  witty,  and  daring,  as  a  prince  may 
very  well  be,  talked  well  and  rapidly ;  and  my  master 
was  so  little  behind  him,  that  the  spectators  were  often 
astonished  and  sometimes  alarmed. 

Napoleon  was  conquered,  and  chained  to  his  Pro- 
metheus-rock of  St.  Helena.  The  congress  of  monarchs 
met  again  at  Paris,  and  again  we  lulled  ourselves  with 
false  hopes  that  at  last  every  one's  eyes  would  be  opened, 
and  full  reparation  and  satisfaction  would  be  demanded 
from  the  haughty  French  nation,  and  again  the  result 
disappointed  us,  or  at  least  only  partially  satisfied  us. 

Gneisenau  to  E.  M.  A. 

"Paris,  August  23rd,  1815. 
"  My  dear  Arndt, 

"  Put  on  mourning.  Everything  is  tending  towards  the 
conclusion  of  a  new  Peace  of  Utrecht.  Germany's  misfortunes 
are  to  be  rendered  lasting.  France  is  still  to  be  able  to  make 
continual  sallies  from  her  fortresses,  and  if  they  fail,  to  return 
to  her  untouched  territory.  Is  not  this  wilfully  encouraging 
France  to  wars  which,  if  successful,  will  bring  her  great  con- 
quests, and  if  unsuccessful,  involve  no  danger  to  herself?     We 


^T.  45.]  The  Terms  of  Peace.  335 


are  to  be  satisfied  with  the  temporary  garrisoning  of  some  fort- 
resses. Prussia  is  giving  up  everything,  and  we  may  think  to 
have  won  a  great  deal  if  we  do  not  lose  territory.  ...  I  arn 
telling  you  this  that  you  may  prepare  upright,  hopeful  minds 
for  the  misfortunes  of  Germany,  and  make  them  also  under- 
stand that  it  is  not  Prussia's  fault,  if  diplomacy  does  not  deal 
justly." 

The  French  were  indeed  required  to  pay  a  consider- 
able indemnity,  and  to  give  back  all  the  libraries,  works 
of  art,  and  monuments  which  they  had  taken  from  dif- 
ferent lands,  and  to  consent  that  part  of  their  territory 
and  their  strongholds  should  be  occupied  by  the  Allies 
with  1 50,000  men  for  a  period  of  three  years,  which  it 
was  afterwards  found  necessary  to  extend  to  five  ;  but 
they  were  not  required  to  give  up  any  German  territory, 
nor  was  Germany  strengthened  by  better  and  more  secure 
frontiers.  What  was  it  which  stood  in  the  way  .^  Surely 
the  experience  of  many  years,  and  especially  the  recent 
experience  of  the  winter,  might  have  taught  them  that 
this  fickle,  boastful  nation  was  not  to  be  bound  by  oaths 
or  gratitude,  but  could  only  be  restrained  by  fear  and 
self-interest. 

In  the  first  place,  Louis  XVIII.  and  Talleyrand 
adopted  the  usual  arts  and  devices  in  the  use  of  which 
this  nation  surpasses  all  others.  Old  Louis  boasted  of 
his  chivalrous  Frenchmen,  as  if  he  had  always  built  and 
could  still  build  upon  their  faith  and  devotion.  They 
were  perfectly  innocent  of  the  last  insurrection — it  was 
to  be  laid  to  some  who  had  seduced  the  soldier}^ 
and  to  the  treacherous  representations  of  the  Corsican  ! 
These   vulpine  arts  and  wily  fawnings  were  used   most 


336  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1815. 


assiduously  upon  the  Emperor  Alexander,  for  it  was  he 
who  had  comforted  them  the  year  before  for  all  their 
defeat  and  humiliation.  They  filled  his  ear  with  every 
possible  flattery  and  blandishment.  Among  other 
things,  when  he  went  to  hold  a  grand  review  on  the 
plain  of  Vertus,  the  French  newspapers  remarked,  "  The 
Emperor  Alexander  has  gone  to  his  favourite  spot "  (the 
field  of  virtue).  But  the  Czar  showed  himself  rather 
cool  towards  them,  though  he  was  no  warmer  to  poor 
Germany.  So  the  crafty  people  tried  him  on  another 
side.  The  trumpet  of  earthly  glory  having  ceased  to 
please  him,  they  tried  the  music  of  another  world.  The 
Frenchman  is  a  man  of  the  present  m^oment,  and  knows 
how  to  make  use  of  the  slightest  breath  of  air  which  may 
blow  in  his  favour.  One  has  only  to  open  the  memoirs 
of  their  diplomatists  to  read  therein  the  Proteus-like  arts 
which  are  there  revealed  to  the  eyes  of  Europe.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  memoirs  of  the  Marechal,  Comte  de 
Villars.  In  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Leopold,  he  occu- 
pied the  post  of  French  ambassador  to  Vienna,  when 
the  illness  of  Charles  II.  of  Spain  was  agitating  the 
whole  of  Europe  on  the  subject  of  the  Spanish  succes- 
sion. He  was  young,  handsome,  active  and  spirited,  and 
brought  with  him  a  dozen  of  the  handsomest  and 
cleverest  youths  of  the  first  French  families,  as  well  as 
many  other  assistants  who  were  in  his  train  and  under 
his  protection,  under  various  disguises,  besides  a  swarm 
of  charming  French  actresses  and  dancers.  The  first 
were  expected  to  win  over  the  German  and  Hungarian 
ladies  ;  the  second  the  men.  He  himself,  under 
many  different  disguises,  engaged  in  these  adventures. 


^T.  45.]  The  Emperor  Alexander.  337 

and  kept  in  his  pay  all  the  low,  venal  rogues  of  Vienna 
as  spies  and   informers.     Such  were  the  French  then, 
and  such  they  are  to  the  present  day  ;  and  they  have  an 
advantage  over  all  the  other  nations  of  Europe  in  their 
language  being  the  universal  medium  of  communication 
everywhere,  which  gives  them  great  influence,  and  en- 
sures them  an  entrance  wherever  they  go.     They  now 
sought  to  influence  the   Emperor  Alexander   in  a  dif- 
ferent way.     He  was  an  amiable  prince,  with  strong  im- 
pulses,  which,  however,  were  very  transient,  towards  all 
that    was   good   and    noble,    and   with   a   gentle,    mild, 
almost  womanish  disposition,  so  that  he  deserves  double 
credit  for  the  manliness  which  he  displayed  in  the  years 
1 8 12-13.     He  showed  also   an   almost  feminine  vanity, 
and  seemed  constantly  to  be  striving  for  the  favour  and 
good  opinion  of  every  one.     They  had  found  this  out 
the  year  before,  and  it  guided  them  in  spreading  the  net 
in  which  they  hoped  to  catch  him,  and  in  a  certain  sense 
they  succeeded. 

There  was   a  Frau   von  Kriidener,*  the   widow  of   a 
Russian  diplomatist,  a  lady  of  the  great  world,  who  had 

*  Juliana  von  Kriidener,  iiee  von  Vietinghoff,  was  born  at  Riga,  1766, 
but  brought  up  in  Paris,  v^rhere  she  excited  general  attention  even  as  a 
mere  child,  in  the  circle  of  intellectual  men  that  assembled  frequently  in 
her  father's  house.  She  was  married  when  only  fourteen  years  of  age  to 
Von  Kriidener,  the  Russian  ambassador  at  Copenhagen,  and  afterwards  in 
Venice,  but  was  separated  from  him  in  1791,  and  gave  herself  up  to 
pleasure  in  Paris  and  elsewhere.  About  this  time  she  published  her 
novel  "  Vaierie,"  which  earned  her  a  considerable  reputation.  In 
1813  she  formed  a  close  intimacy  with  Jung-Stilling,  and  began  to  hold 
religious  meetings  in  her  house.  After  the  peace  she  went  to  Switzerland 
to  cai'ry  out  her  mission,  and  her  preaching  caused  such  a  sensation  that 
the  authorities  interfered,  and  she  vi'as  conducted  by  the  police  back  to 
Russia.     She  died  in  the  Crimea  in  1824. 

22 


33S  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1815 

been  a  famous  beauty  in  her  youth,  and  had  learned  the 
ways  of  that  world  only  too  well — even  some  of  the 
more  crooked  ones.  This  lady,  now  grown  older,  though 
still  retaining  considerable  remains  of  her  former  beauty, 
with  the  additional  attractions  of  a  fervid  penitent,  ap- 
parently weary  of  the  vanity  and  nothingness  of  all 
earthly  joys,  had  appeared  on  the  scene  as  an  enthusiast, 
as  one  favoured  with  visions  and  heavenly  visitations,  as 
the  preacher  of  the  doctrines  of  grace,  repentance,  and 
expiation.  She  had  spent  the  last  few  years  on  the 
Upper  Rhine,  in  Baden,  Basle,  and  Strasburg,  and  had 
excited  great  attention,  all  the  more  that  many  Russian 
generals  and  other  grandees  had  been  captured  in  the 
toils  of  her  ardent  piety,  and  were  led  by  her  in  a  kind 
of  Christian  triumph,  while  she  even  enjoyed  the  favour 
of  spending  hours  with  the  Emperor  Alexander,  dis- 
coursing, it  was  said,  of  heavenly  things  and  heavenly 
manifestations.  I  had  seen  her  often  in  the  summer  of 
1 8 14,  when  I  spent  a  month  at  Baden,  in  Alsace,  and  in 
the  beautiful  Murgthal.  She  was  then  much  in  the 
company  of  good  old  Jung-Stilling,*  with  whose  child- 
like simplicity  she  played  most  skilfully. 

She  had  all  the  restlessness  and  busy  excitability  of 

*  Johann  Heinrich  Jung,  surnamed  Stilling,  born  1 740,  was  the  son  of 
poor  parents,  and  became  first  a  charcoal-burner  and  afterwards  a  tailor, 
but  having  succeeded  in  educating  himself,  he  obtained  a  situation  as  tutor 
in  a  gentleman's  family,  where  he  saved  money  to  take  him  to  Strasburg 
University  to  study  medicine.  He  practised  as  a  physician  in  Elberfeld 
until  he  was  appointed  professor,  first  at  Lautem  and  afterwards  at  Heidel- 
berg. Intercourse  with  Goethe  induced  him  to  take  up  literature,  and  he 
published  his  autobiography  under  the  title  of  "  Heinrich  Stilling's  Child- 
hood, Youth,  and  Wanderings."  Besides  this,  he  wrote  some  scientific 
works,  and  several  religious  ones  of  a  mystical  character. 


^T.  45.]  Fj'au  von  K^didenei".  339 

a  lady  of  the  great  world,  who  has  not  yet  found  her 
rest,  who  has  one  eye  intent  on  earthly  pleasures, 
while  the  other  is  gazing  after  the  peace  of  heaven. 
She  did  not  give  one  the  impression  of  being  an  im- 
postor or  a  deceiver,  but  rather  a  visionary,  and  she 
had  all  the  irresistible  magic  of  that  character.  She 
preached  her  new  gospel  with  equal  zeal  to  the  rich  and 
to  the  poor,  to  the  Emperor  and  to  the  beggar.  Her 
favourite  theme,  as  I  have  generally  found  to  be  the  case 
with  old  women,  whether  masculine  or  feminine,  was 
the  connection  between  the  wars  and  revolutions  from 
which  Europe  had  suffered,  and  the  sins  of  the  nations 
which  drove  them  on  continually  with  restless  impulses, 
and  never  let  them  seek  peace  where  alone  it  was  to  be 
found.  In  this  she  was  expressing  an  undeniable  truth, 
only  she  should  not  have  begun  with  the  lower  classes 
of  all  nations,  but  rather  with  her  own  people  and  race, 
and  with  the  higher  orders  of  society,  and  in  respect  to 
France,  with  the  abominable  immorality  and  infidelity 
of  the  courts  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Louis  XV.  Some 
pseudo-pious  French  diplomatists  addressed  themselves 
to  her,  and  brought  about  a  most  intimate  spiritual 
friendship  between  her  and  a  French  lady,  Madame 
Lezay-Marnesia,  the  widow  of  a  former  governor  of 
Strasburg,  a  brave  man,  universally  respected  for  his 
uprightness,  who,  when  travelling  the  year  before  with 
the  Comte  d'Artois,  had  been  thrown  from  his  carriage 
and  had  broken  his  neck.  The  two  ladies  went  together 
to  the  Imperial  court,  and  Frau  von  Kriidener  held  long 
religious  exercises  and  pious  conversations  with  the 
Emperor,  the  beginning  and  end  of  which  always  was, 

22 — 2 


340  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1815. 

that  though  it  was  true  that  the  French  were  a  God- 
forgetting  and  abandoned  nation,  among  whom  the 
worst  principles  had  the  upper  hand,  and  though  they 
had  justly  deserved  the  chastisement  both  of  God  and 
man,  yet  if  they  were  not  to  be  driven  to  utter  despair, 
if  ever  they  were  to  be  won  back  to  Christianity  and  the 
old  rule  of  the  Bourbons,  they  must  not  be  treated  with 
all  the  severity  of  strict  justice,  they  must  be  gradually 
led  to  better  things  by  kindness  and  gentleness.  So 
the  word  was  always  mercy,  mercy,  while  Germany  was 
refused  justice,  which  had  been  solemnly  promised  to 
her. 

These  ladies,  and  some  others  whom  they  knew  how 
to  attach  to  themselves,  got  the  Czar  entirely  into  their 
power.  The  English,*  or  rather  their  great  general, 
Wellington,  fell  under  another  and  much  worse  in- 
fluence ;  and  Castlereagh  and  the  others  who  were  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  the  negotiations  were  drawn  in  also. 
Fouch^  the  notorious  Due  d'Otranto,  who  had  been  for  so 
many  years  the  general  of  Napoleon's  band  of  spies,  whose 
name  (Fouche=:Fusche  =  Pfuscherer)  might  be  translated 
meddler  and  intriguer,  had,  when  the  armies  took  the  field 
in  that  summer  (18 15) — certainly  not  without  Napoleon's 
knowledge — entered  into  negotiations  with  the  great 
English  general,  pretending  to  be  a  traitor  who  wished 
to  communicate  to  the  English  the  movements  of  the 
French  and  the  plans  of  Napoleon.  It  was  through 
him  that  the  Allies  had  been  surprised  by  Napoleon. 
Some  weeks  before  the  battles  of  Ligny  and  Waterloo 

•  We  give  this  as  the  view  of  a  German  living  at  the  time,  and  cannot, 
of  course,  enter  here  into  the  question  of  the  truth  of  it. 


^T.  45.]  FoiicJiL  •  341 

the  Prussian  general  had  warned  Wellington  and  had 
tried  to  persuade  him  to  move  the  different  bodies  of 
the  allied  armies  nearer  together,  so  that  they  might 
be  prepared  for  any  blow.  But  in  vain  !  Wellington 
trusted  to  the  reports  of  Fouche,  who  represented  that 
Napoleon  would  certainly  not  act  on  the  offensive,  and 
that  his  army  would  not  in  any  case  be  ready  for  a 
battle  before  July. 

So  it  happened  that  the  Allies  were  attacked  and 
partially  defeated  by  the  whole  French  army  on  June 
16  and  17,  because  about  50,000  or  60,000  of  their  men 
could  not  reach  the  place  in  time,  and  did  not  arrive 
till  the  second  and  third  day. 

If  Napoleon  had  succeeded  in  gaining  a  decisive 
victory,  how  the  virtuous  cunning  of  the  noble  citizen 
Fouche  would  have  been  applauded  by  the  whole  of 
France  !  But,  nevertheless,  Wellington  was  caught  in 
the  net,  and  remained  in  communication  with  Fouche  ; 
who,  now  ,  indeed  that  Napoleon  after  his  defeat  at 
Waterloo  was  hopelessly  lost,  and  confessed  himself  so, 
went  over  to  the  other  side,  and  enticed  his  old  master, 
through  endless  systematic  intrigues,  to  surrender  him- 
self to  the  English  on  board  the  NortJmmbet'land,  in  the 
roads  of  Rochefort.  Fouche  had  the  greatest  influence 
over  Wellington,  and  used  this  influence  for  France 
against  Germany. 

Prussia,  influenced  by  Stein,  Avho,  however,  had  lost 
a  great  deal  of  his  hold  over  Alexander,  continued  to 
demand,  as  a  conditio  sine  qua  non  of  peace  with  France, 
the  cession  of  the  German  territory  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine,  with  the  fortresses  of  Metz  and   Strasburg  ; 


342  L ife  of  A  rndt.  [a.d.  i  S i  5 . 


and  she  urged  this  requirement  boldly,  declaring  that 
she  was  acting  only  for  the  sake  of  the  honour  and 
security  of  Germany,  not  desiring  for  herself  the  smallest 
village  of  the  district  to  be  surrendered.  But  English 
influence  prevented  the  attainment  of  this  demand, 
England  here,  as  in  other  points,  playing  the  generous 
at  the  expense  of  Germany. 

It  was  of  this  that  Germany  complained,  when,  in  the 
autumn  of  1815,  everything  was  settled  and  everyone 
went  home.     She  might  have  complained  of  many  other 
things,  if  complaining  would  have  brought  back  what 
was  lost,  or  made  up  for  what  was  missing.     At  neither 
of  the  Congresses  did  any  great  German  cabinet  or  any 
true  German  minister  put  forth  a  statement  of  the  con- 
dition and  claims  of  Germany,  as  was  done  on  behalf  of 
almost   every   other  nation  by  its   minister.     Not   only 
the  French   but  also  the  Allies   deafened  us  with  talk 
about  beautiful   France,  so  rich   in  civilisation  and  the 
arts !  and   how   it    was  necessary  for  the  happiness  of 
Europe  that   she  should  be  strong  and  powerful.     But 
who  said  anything  about  Germany  being  made  and  kept 
strong    and   powerful — Germany  which  was  the  centre 
of  this  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  on  whose  shores  must 
break  all  the  waves  of  popular  movements  and  general 
changes  ?     At  best  they  spoke  of  restoring  the  old  state 
of  things  of   1790,  which,  if  one  keeps  before  one  the 
requirements  for  self-defence,  the  happiness  of  security, 
and    the    honour    of   independence,    would   not    awake 
the   most  cheerful  recollections,  or  the  most  edifying 
reflections. 

It  would  have  been  possible  to  found  greater  claims 


^T.  45.]  Grievances  of  Ger^nany.  343 


and  demands  for  Germany  on  the  fact  that  this  great 
country,  being  cut  up  and  divided  into  more  than  thirty 
states,  large  and  small,  could  never  have  the  power  which 
its  natural  resources,  its  large  population,  and  the  war- 
like disposition  of  its  brave  inhabitants  would  otherwise 
have  given  it,  from  the  difficulty  of  uniting  its  forces, 
and  the  consequent  slowness  of  its  movements  ;  that 
this  land,  which  had  gone  on  crumbling  away  for  more 
than  six  hundred  years,  would  not  be  likely  to  be  in- 
clined to  attack  its  neighbours,  but  would  on  the  contrary 
be  exposed  to  encroachments  from  their  covetousness 
and  rapacity ;  and  that  as  a  great  peaceful  country, 
placed  by  the  hand  of  God  for  the  happiness  of  Europe 
in  its  very  centre,  it  should  be  invested  with  some  of  the 
splendour  of  majesty  at  least  by  the  greatness  of  its 
circumference.  Foreigners  at  last  openly  insulted  us  by 
saying  that  Germany,  in  consequence  of  its  victories, 
had  been  at  least  restored  to  the  possession  of  all  that 
it  had  held  in  1790.  But  that  was  not  true.  A  number 
of  small  possessions  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  which  in 
1790  had  belonged  to  German  princes  and  barons,  were 
left  in  the  hands  of  the  French  ;  and  without  any  adequate 
opposition  to  the  foolish  scheme  of  England,  four  millions 
of  souls  were  given  over  to  the  Dutch  (who  never  will 
consent  to  be  Germans,  though  they  really  are  such) — 
the  beautiful  Burgundian  territory,  and  the  great  bishopric 
and  principality  of  Liege,  besides  several  imperial  abbey- 
lands. 

In  the  holy  Rhine  city,  as  half  in  earnest,  half  in  joke, 
they  call  Cologne,  I  was  very  busy  publishing  a  news- 
paper, which  bore  the  name  of  the  Wdchter  (Watchman) . 


344  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1815. 

I  spent  the  whole  summer,  autumn,  and  winter  of 
1815-16  in  Cologne,  and  it  would  have  been  a  pleasant 
time  to  me  had  it  not  been  for  political  troubles  and 
sorrows.  I  found  the  old  imperial  city  very  different 
from  what  it  had  appeared  to  me  in  my  younger  days, 
twenty  years  before,  in  the  summer  of  1799,  when  it 
had  a  desolate  and  dead  appearance,  and  made  a  miser- 
able impression  upon  me. 

Cologne  had  formerly  been  the  first  imperial  city  on 
the  Rhine,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Middle 
Ages  it  had  been  shut  up  within  itself, — locked  up  and 
barred.  The  ideas  of  the  inhabitants  did  not  extend 
beyond  their  own  walls,  and  they  were  frequently  at 
war  with,  and  always  suspiciously  watching,  the  spiritual 
elector  who  took  his  title  from  their  city.  They  were 
surrounded  by  warlike  and  mighty  princes,  who  only 
allowed  the  city  to  exercise  rule  over  the  traffic  of  the 
Rhine. 

This  position  has  produced  the  same  effect  which  I 
have  noticed  before  when  speaking  of  Stralsund,  i.e.,  a 
peculiarity  in  manners,  character,  and  speech  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  town  even  from  the  districts  immediately 
surrounding  it. 

The  character  of  the  people  is  distinctly  Low-German, 
quiet,  with  a  satirical  way  of  looking  at  themselves,  and 
a  gay,  cheerful  way  of  looking  at  other  persons  and 
things.  They  are  more  lively  than  the  Western  Dutch. 
They  have  a  great  deal  of  good-humour,  combined  with 
downright  straightforwardness,  and  a  secure  conscious- 
ness of  the  dignity  and  equality  of  citizenship  which 
has  descended  to  them  from  old  times,  and  which  is 


^T.  45.]  Cologne.  345 

also  noticeable  in  the  citizens  of  Strasburg  in  spite  of 
their  having  been  so  long  under  the  giddy  and  frivolous 
French.  And  all  this  is  combined  with  a  peculiar  kind 
of  wit  and  humour,  which  cannot  be  described,  but 
which  must  just  be  called  Colognish. 

I  got  on  very  well  here,  surrounded  by  German  hos- 
pitality and  kindness,  and  could  put  up  with  Cologne 
jokes  and  witticisms,  even  when  I  was  myself  the  sub- 
ject of  them.  For  in  Carnival-time  I  came  in  for  my 
share.  In  another  way,  however,  attacks  began  to  be 
made  upon  m.e  of  a  more  serious  kind. 

The  storm  which  Schmalz  and  Von  Biilow,  cousin 
of  Prince  Hardenberg,  were  raising  in  Berlin  against 
destroyers  and  seducers  of  the  time,  recoiled  upon 
me.  It  was  not  unexpected.  I  was  prepared  for  it, 
and  did  not  allow  myself  to  be  troubled  by  it ;  only  I 
had  not  expected  it  from  that  quarter.  But  when  in  the 
winter  of  18 16  I  was  amusing  myself  with  my  friend 
Schenkendorf  in  the  revelries  of  the  Carnival  at  Cologne, 
caricatures  of  me  as  a  demagogue,  for  which  those 
gentlemen  had  mixed  the  colours,  were  to  be  seen  on 
all  sides. 

In  the  spring  of  the  miserable  famine  year,  1S16,  I 
took  my  son  to  the  Gymnasium  at  Diisseldorf,  and  then 
wandered  up  the  Rhine  to  Coblentz,  Mainz,  Frankfort, 
and  Cassel,  and  thence  to  Berlin,  and  then  to  my  home. 
Part  of  the  summer  I  spent  in  Denmark,  in  order  to 
complete  some  northern  investigations.*      Then  in  the 

*  "In  Friedrichsberg  I  had  a  \Az\\.  from  the  famous  E.  M.  Arndt.,  not 
the  above-mentioned  oddity  (referring  to  an  old  antiquarian  of  the  same 
name),  but  the  Bonn  Professor,  and  author  of  the  '  Spirit  of  the  Age,'  after 


34^  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1816. 

autumn  and  winter  I  arranged  my  affairs  at  my  old 
home,  and  packed  up  ready  to  go  to  the  Rhine,  having 
had  distinct  offers  made  me  from  that  district. 

The  spring  of  18 17  I  spent  in  BerHn,  and  the  summer 
on  the  Rhine,  on  whose  shores  I  settled  down  in  the 
autumn  at  Bonn,  waiting  for  the  future  university  in 
which  I  was  to  teach. 

During  this  visit  to  his  old  home  Arndt  seems  to  have  de- 
voted much  time  and  thought  to  the  changes  which  had  taken 
place  in  the  condition  of  the  peasantry,  and  all  he  saw  and 
heard  aroused  his  indignation  at  the  way  in  which  the  abolition 
of  serfdom  had  been  made  a  mere  mockery.  Writing  to  G. 
Reimer  from  Putbus  on  October  20th,  1816,  he  says  : 

"  In  this  paradise  of  nature,  Riigen,  it  is  always  an  oppres- 
sive feeling  to  me,  that  there  are  only  masters  and  servants, 
that  there  are  no  longer  any  peasants,  and  therefore  no  happi- 
ness or  strength  in  the  people." 

"Putbus,  Dec.  7th,  1816. 

"I  send  you  a  manuscript,  which,  when  it  is  printed,  will 
make  about  six  or  seven  sheets.  I  think  it  will  be  advisable 
that  it  should  be  printed  now.  The  censor,  I  think,  can  have 
nothing  against  it,  as  it  is  written  ....  When  you  have 
printed  the  thing,  please  send  me  six  copies,  and  let  a  couple 
elegandy  bound  and  printed  be  sent,  with  the  enclosed  letter, 
to  the  Chancellor." 

"Putbus,  Christmas  Eve,  1816. 

"If  you  can  bring  the  manuscript  I    lately  sent  you 
to  the  light  of  day  as  soon  as  possible,  do   so.     It  touches 


Lis  fashion  an  antiquarian  too.  He  was  engaged,  that  is  to  say,  in  tracing 
out  the  extent  of  the  spread  of  the  old  races,  which  naturally  followed  the 
geographical  division.  Arndt  had  been  in  Sweden,  and  had  been  much 
struck  by  the  Dalecarlians,  a  thick-set,  black-haired,  passionate  race,  of 
southern  nature,  who,  according  to  Arndt's  opinion,  during  some  unknown 
immigration,  had  planted  themselves  among  the  tall,  fair,  quiet  Scan- 
dinavians."— Ochlenschlcigcr  s  Autobiography,  vol.  iii.  p.  lOO. 


^T.  46.]       Scqncl  to  the  '*  History  of  Serfdom^  347 

upon  many  things  here  which  are  now  in  hand,  and  if 
the  ill-disposed  are  not  ashamed,  they  are  sometimes  afraid, 
and  often  when,  if  they  knew,  they  really  have  no  need  to  be. 
Many  abominations  have  happened  here,  and  are  happening 
still  every  day  in  secret,  which  the  disgraceful  charter  of 
September,  181 1,  is  to  cover.  We  must  at  least  draw  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Government  to  such  things.  Then  if  they  will  not 
hear,  they  will  bring  down  lightning  on  their  own  heads.'' 

This  book  was  a  sequel  to  the  '•  History  of  Serfdom,"  which 
had  once  so  nearly  got  Arndt  into  trouble  with  the  King  of 
Sweden.  It  was  called  "Geschichte  der  Veranderung  der 
bauerlichen  und  herrschaftlichen  Verhaltnisse  in  dem  vorma- 
ligen  schwedischen  Pomraern  und  Riigen "  ("  The  History  of 
the  Change  in  the  Relations  between  the  Peasants  and  the  Ruling 
Classes  in  what  had  hitherto  been  Swedish  Pomerania  and 
Riigen  ").  These  districts  were  now,  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  to 
be  transferred  from  Sweden  to  Prussia,  and  the  book,  therefore? 
was  dedicated  to  Prince  Hardenberg.  The  following  extracts 
will  give  some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  book  : 

"According  to  the  Royal  Charter  of  July  4th,  1806,  the  year 
1810  had  been  fixed  as  the  period  when  those  who  had  hitherto 
been  serfs  were  to  receive  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  liberty. 
In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1809,  when  the  country  was  still  in 
the  power  of  the  French,  the  Government  commission  then 
sitting  in  Stralsund;  issued  regulations  about  the  time  of  the 
change.  The  time  was  fixed  for  the  autumn,  and  the  new  hiring 
was  to  take  place  at  Easter ;  only  eight  days  were  allowed  for 
finding  places.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  much  it  was  feared  that 
many  would  wish  to  change  their  places.  Half  a  year  after 
another  order  was  issued,  which  gave  leave  for  notice  to  be  given 
at  midsummer.  Not  long  after  this  last  order  three  edicts  were 
issued.  ...  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  specially  clear-sighted  to 
be  able  to  discover,  by  looking  through  and  considering  these 
regulations,  that  quite  another  spirit  had  influenced  those  who 
drew  them  up  from  that  which  is  perceptible  in  the  edict  of 
Gustavus  of  the  year  1806.  .  .  .  They  contain  several  good 
police  regulations  about  hiring  and  service,  but  the  exactions  are 


348  Life  of  A^nidt.  [a.d.  18 16. 

in  many  respects  intolerable,  and  can  only  be  explained  by  the 
want  of  population,  which  the  masters  had  caused  by  tlie 
universal  destruction  of  the  peasant  communes,  and  for  which 
the  lower  classes  could  do  nothing,  though  now  in  their  so-called 
liberty  they  were  to  atone  for  that  which  had  been  their  misfor- 
tune, not  their  fault.  .   .   . 

"  It  was  very  strictly  forbidden  that  any  of  those  who  had 
been  serfs,  or  their  children  who  were  over  fifteen  years  of  age, 
should  be  received  in  the  towns  or  villages,  those  only  excepted 
who  had  learnt  a  trade,  or  wished  to  learn  one,  or  whose  weak- 
ness and  infirmity  made  them  incapable  of  agricultural  labour. 
Earlier  regulations  were  referred  to  on  this  subject.  Unmar- 
ried men  and  women  were  forbidden  to  work  by  the  day  and 
so  earn  their  daily  bread  ;  they  were  to  hire  themselves  out  as 
domestic  servants.  No  peasant  or  cottager  who  had  formerly 
been  a  serf  was  to  keep  more  servants  than  he  absolutely  re- 
quired, and  this  was  left  to  the  decision  of  the  officer  of  the  dis- 
trict. Every  impartial  person  will  naturally  ask  why  this  law 
should  touch  only  the  lower  people,  and  why  not  the  so-called 
masters  (the  noble  or  burgher  landowners,  pastors,  farmers, 
etc.),  why  equal  severity  should  not  be  exercised  upon  all  who 
live  in  the  country,  in  seeing  whether  they  have  no  unnecessary 
servants. 

"  But  now  come  worse  things.  Parents  who  were  formerly 
serfs  must  not  keep  at  home  any  of  their  children  who  are 
capable  of  service  except  those  they  actually  require.  The 
officers  appointed  are  to  watch  carefully  on  this  point,  and  to 
inflict  a  fine  of  five  thalers  upon  the  parents  for  each  case  in 
which  they  are  guilty.  This  is  enforced  afresh  in  the  regula- 
tions of  September  19,  1811,  in  which,  speaking  of  the  serving 
classes,  it  says  they  may  only  keep  their  children  at  home 
until  the  close  of  their  fifteenth  year;  after  that  they  must  leave 
their  parents'  home  and  enter  service,  or  take  up  some  other 
branch  of  industry. 

"  Here  one  naturally  asks  with  surprise  what  kind  of  com- 
mand is  this  ?  As  a  rule,  one  can  generally  reckon  that  the 
scanty  resources  of  this  class  will  of  itself  oblige  them  to  send 


^T.  46. J       Sequel  to  the  "History  of  Serfdom^  349 

their  children  to  service  as  soon  as  they  can  use  their  hands 
and  feet  in  any  kind  of  employment,  if  only  in  cow-keeping. 
But  if  they  are  well  enough  off,  is  it  not  usurping  a  most  unjust 
authority  over  the  parents  and  their  intentions  in  respect  to 
their  children?  What  if  a  cottager  and  day-labourer  should 
wish  to  send  his  son  to  school  and  let  him  learn  a  little  more 
writing  and  arithmetic,  even  after  he  has  finished  his  fifteenth 
year,  which  is  the  more  frequently  the  case,  since  learning  begins 
so  late  with  such  people  !  What  if  a  cottager  and  his  wife 
should  wish  to  keep  their  grown-up  daughters,  even  if  they  have 
half-a-dozen,  at  home,  and  let  them  work  with  them  as  day- 
labourers,  or  earn  their  bread  by  spinning,  weaving,  or  some 
other  handiwork,  until  they  leave  tiieir  home  to  be  married  !  As 
service  is  now,  especially  among  the  troops  of  servants  in  the 
larger  farms,  the  thought  of  their  daughters  in  such  company  is 
not  indeed  the  most  comforting  one  to  parents  who  have  any 
sense  of  honour,  and  that  a  sense  of  honour  may  reside  in  the 
breasts  of  peasants,  nobody  will  venture  to  deny  ;  and  I  can 
well  imagine  that  such  parents  would  consider  their  daughters 
happier  and  safer  at  home  with  the  poorest  fare,  than  sitting 
at  the  best  tables  in  luxury  and  comfort  in  their  masters' 
houses. 

"  Very  hard,  too,  are  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  articles 
of  this  edict.  The  case  may  very  well  happen  that  the  possessor 
of  a  cottage  may  not  be  able  to  prove  his  right  by  title-deeds  or 
any  written  papers  ;'the  possession  for  so  many  years  undisputed 
by  the  owner  of  the  estate  shall  decide  the  matter  until  the 
owner  of  the  estate  shall  prove  his  better  right.  And  as  now 
no  one  has  the  right  to  keep  any  peasant  on  their  estates  against 
his  will,  he  must  accept  the  notice  given  ;  but  the  landowner 
is  obliged  to  buy  the  cottage  from  the  possessor,  either  at  an 
impartial  valuation  or  for  the  price  which  is  ordered. 

"  If  these  arrangements  do  not  satisfy  the  possessor  of  the 
cottage  (he  may  choose  which  he  prefers),  there  only  remains 
to  him  the  right  of  pulling  down  his  cottage,  and  taking  it  away 
with  him.  Already  a  royal  proclamation,  of  July  4,  1806,  had 
ordered  that  no  one  who  had  been  a  serf  might  leave  his  German 


350  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  i8i6. 


territory  without  the  special  permission  of  his  Majesty,  it  is  now- 
more  distinctly  stated  that  any  one  belonging  to  this  class  who 
shall  secretly  leave  the  country  shall  not  only  be  summoned 
back  and  receive  corporal  punishment,  but  shall  forfeit  all  claim 
to  the  property  he  left  behind  him,  as  well  as  all  rights  of  in- 
heritance. 

"  Many  of  these  houses  may  have  been  worth  at  the  valuation 
only  fifty  or  one  hundred  thalers,  and  yet  with  improvements 
from  time  to  time  have  been  capable  of  sheltering  their  inhabi- 
tants for  a  couple  of  generations  ;  but  can  a  man  build  a  house 
for  fifty  or  one  hundred  thalers,  and  where  is  he  to  build  it  when 
the  towns  and  villages  are  closed  to  him,  and  when  the  ruling 
classes  will  not  suffer  any  landowner  near  them  ? 

"  Now,  as  things  stand  at  present,  one  hears  both  from  good 
and  bad  men  complaints  enough,  well  grounded  and  un- 
grounded, about  the  disorderly  behaviour,  license  and  insolence 
of  the  working-classes.  ...  I  do  not  deny  that  these  com- 
plaints are  just ;  they  have  been  confirmed  by  too  many  good 
and  unexceptionable  witnesses.  I  do  not  maintain  that  the 
working-classes  have  been  better  behaved  since  the  aboli- 
tion of  serfdom,  but  I  think  that  the  cause  of  these  w-ell- 
grounded  complaints  is  to  be  sought  in  the  fact  that  in  the  part 
of  the  country  where  they  are  most  heard,  the  natural  relations 
are  so  bad,  indeed,  are  just  of  that  sort,  that  if  they  remain  as 
they  are,  this  class  cannot  possibly  be  improved. 

"  Therefore,  the  first  thing  which  the  new  Government,  on 
which  so  many  hopes  are  founded,  has  to  do,  is  to  consider  how 
the  peasant  communes  which  still  remain  may  be  preserved, 
and  how,  where  they  are  wanting,  they  may  be  created  ;  and 
thus  the  country  people,  who  are  now  so  uncared-for,  may 
be  brought  back  into  a  better  and  more  respectable  condi- 
tion." 

In  1S20  he  published,  as  a  separate  pamphlet,  an  article 
which  he  had  written  in  the  Watchman,  on  the  condition  of  the 
peasantry.  In  it  he  argues  with  great  earnestness  that  some 
considerable  portion  of  the  land  ought  to  be  in  their  hands. 
'  The  wisest  legislators  of  antiquity  founded  their  states  on 


^T.  46.]      Sequel  to  the  "History  of  Serfdom."  351 


agrarian  principles,'  he  says  ;  and  then,  after  touching  upon  the 
Mosaic  system  and  other  constitutions  both  of  ancient  and 
modern  times,  he  expresses  his  behef  that  in  the  long-run  it 
will  go  well  only  with  countries  in  which  one  half  or  two-thirds 
of  the  land  is  in  the  possession  of  the  peasants,  to  be  held  by 
them  as  entailed  estates. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PROFESSOR   AT   BONN. 

Schmalz's  pamphlet. — Arndt  made  professor  at  Bonn. — Second  marriage. — 
Fourth  part  of  the  "  Spu-it  of  the  Age." — Opening  of  the  university. — 
Building  of  his  house. — Birth  of  Siegerich. 

It  will  be  necessary  at  this  point  to  drop  the  regular 
course  of  the  autobiography,  which  turns  away  from  the 
account  of  his  life  to  discuss  political  institutions  and  the 
condition  of  Germany.  One  or  two  of  the  greater  events 
that  occurred  to  him  afterwards  are  related  in  scattered 
passages,  but  the  rest  must  be  told  in  other  words. 

From  his  own  account  in  the  last  chapter,  it  is  evident 
that  the  years  1814  to  1 817  were  spent  by  him  in  an 
unsettled  state,  entirely  uncertain  what  the  future  for  him 
would  be.  Writing  to  Frau  von  Kathen  as  early  as  May 
8th,  1 8 14,  from  Coblentz,  he  says  : 

"  Where  my  future  life  will  be,  I  know  not.  If  I  cannot  ob- 
tain a  position  of  influence,  free,  and  capable  of  being  used 
directly  and  powerfully,  for  the  good  of  the  community,  I  shall 
retire  into  a  very  little  place  somewhere,  and  carry  on  the 
studies  of  my  heart  and  affections  as  well  as  I  can.  I  have, 
alas,  had  more  opportunity  to  study,  both  in  myself  and  others, 
the  nothingness  and  transitoriness  of  life  than  the  opposite,  and 


^T.  45-47-]  Waiting.  353 


vanity  does  not  for  a  moment  attract  me  to  any  career  which  is 
at  once  ghttering  and  cold." 

And  again,  on  the  24th  of  July  of  the  same  year  : 

"  As  to  my  future  I  know  nothing,  it  depends  on  many  cir- 
cumstances ;  either  a  right  Hvely  scene  of  activity — some  place 
where  energy  would  be  necessary  (as  for  example,  somewhere 
on  the  Rhine),  or  else  some  very  quiet  place  of  rest.  The 
longing  for  this  last  is  often  very  strong  ^nth  me,  but  this  longing 
is  not  always  a  proof  of  a  vocation.  Besides,  in  spite  of  all  the 
vexations  of  the  time,  I  have  learnt  that  fine  lesson,  that  there 
is  no  better  people  than  mine,  and  that  the  German  nature  is 
not  to  De  spoilt." 

Of  course,  Germany  itself  had  to  be  reorganised  ;  its 
old  constitutions  had  passed  away,  and  it  was  hard  to  say 
what  form  the  new  one  would  take.  Arndt  was  not  the 
only  one  who  was  unsettled  and  knew  not  what  course 
to  choose  : 

'•  I  foresee  no  quiet  times  during  my  lifetime,"  he  says,  ''this 
generation  will  be  carried  away  in  a  storm,  and  ourselves  with 
it,  and  of  those  quiet,  peaceful  pleasures  which  an  earlier  age 
enjoyed,  we  shall  see  little.  But  God  has  awakened  us,  and 
directed  our  thoughts  to  something  higher,  and  for  that  we  will 
praise  Him." 

It  does  not  appear  that  upon  the  return  of  Napoleon 
in  1S15,  Arndt  was  in  any  way  called  upon  by  the 
Government.  He  went,  as  he  has  told  us,  to  the  Rhine, 
and  did  his  best  to  blow  the  sparks  of  patriotism  into  a 
flame,  and  he  speaks  of  himself  "as  hard  at  work," 
chiefly  probably  upon  his  newspaper,  the  Watchniaji  ; 
but  he  was  not  officially  employed,  and  his  writings  were 
no  longer  under  the  protection  of  the   Central  Govern- 

23 


354  Life  of  Arndt.  a.d.  1815— 1817. 

ment.  And  this  was  partly  because  the  reaction  had 
already  set  in.  The  people  of  Germany  had  at  least  been 
allowed  to  believe  that  with  the  yoke  of  the  foreigner  they 
would  also  throw  off  the  yoke  of  despotism,  and  would 
earn  for  themselves  political  liberty.  If  the  question 
was  left  in  doubt  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  the  King 
of  Prussia  was  explicit  enough  in  the  decree  issued  from 
Vienna  in  May  22nd,  181 5,  in  which  a  general  assembly  of 
the  estates  was  distinctly  promised,  and  a  plan  for  their 
constitution  sketched.  But  difficulties  soon  began  to 
appear,  and  the  enemies  of  the  change  came  to  the  front. 
How  strong  was  the  feeling  on  both  sides  became  evi- 
dent upou  the  publication  of  a  little  pamphlet  by  Privy 
Councillor  Schmalz.  He  was  a  native  of  Hanover,  and 
had  been  one  of  the  professors  of  Halle  University,  but 
had  migrated  to  Berlin  during  the  French  occupation, 
and  had  been  actively  engaged  in  the  foundation  of  the 
new  university  there,  of  which  he  became  the  first 
rector.  The  pamphlet,  which  was  published  on  Septem- 
ber 15th,  appeared  under  the  title  of  "A  correction  of  a 
passage  in  Veiiturini's  Chronicle  for  the  year  1 808,"  and 
was  occupied  for  the  most  part  with  the  account  of  his 
being  arrested  and  examined  by  the  French  in  Berlin 
in  that  year.  But  from  this  he  passed  to  speak  of  the 
Tugendbund,  and  to  declare  his  conviction  that  though 
that  society  had  been  dissolved,  there  were  still  existing 
societies,  secret  societies,  bent  on  overturning  the  State. 
The  controversy  grew  fierce  ;  pamphlets  and  articles  in 
the  newspapers  on  the  subject  appeared  in  numbers, 
Schleiermacher  and  Niebuhr  entering  on  the  arena  ;  but 
it  is  only  necessary  here  to  explain  how  Arndt's  name 


JET.  45 — 47.]  ScJinialz's  PmnpJdet.  355 


was  dragged  into  the  quarrel.  Schmalz  had,  as  Niebuhr 
said,  '•  pointed  his  finger  at  certain  individuals  without 
naming  them ;"  but  the  allusions  were  so  obvious  that 
every  one  could  easily  add  the  names,  and  there  were 
many  passages  which  were  supposed  to  point  at  Arndt. 
Schmalz  had  argued  earnestly  that  the  Prussian  people 
in  the  war  of  181 3  had  been  animated  by  no  "  enthusi- 
asm ";  they  had  merely  risen  "  at  the  summons  of  their 
King  from  a  sense  of  duty,  just  as  a  townsman  from  a 
sense  of  duty  hastens  at  the  alarm  of  fire  to  give  his  help 
in  extinguishing  it  ;"  and  he  spoke  contemptuously  of 
those  who  imagined  that  their  "declamations"  and 
their  "  preaching  of  hatred  against  the  French  "  had  had 
anything  to  do  with  rousing  the  spirit  of  the  nation.  At 
the  same  time,  he  charged  them — and  this  was  especially 
understood  to  refer  to  Arndt — with  having  incited  the 
soldiers  to  barbarous  cruelty,  adding  that  these  were  the 
people  who  were  now  declaiming  about  the  union  of 
Germany,  and  demanding  constitutions  against  the  will 
of  their  princes,  instead  of  waiting  until  it  pleased  them 
to  grant  them. 

The  dispute  was  finally  stopped  by  the  express  order 
of  the  King,  who  forbade  anything  more  to  be  published 
either  attacking  or  defending  Schmalz.  The  coun- 
cillor himself  was  decorated  with  the  Order  of  the  Red 
Eagle. 

Arndt  has  told  us  in  the  last  chapter  that  he  did  not 
allow  himself  to  be  troubled  by  this  storm  ;  but  he  may 
naturally  have  felt  that  his  future  prospects  were  un- 
certain. For  the  year  before  (18 14)  he  had  published, 
at  Stein's  instigation,  a  little  pamphlet,  "  Ueber  kiinftige 

23—2 


356  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1815 — 17. 

standische  Verfassungen"  ("On  Future  Representative 
Constitutions"),  in  which  he  not  only  had  given  his 
voice  for  a  united  Germany,  but  had  also  claimed  repre- 
sentative government  as  a  right  belonging  to  the  German 
people.  Writing  to  Frau  von  Kathen  on  October  2, 
181 5,  he  says  : 

"  As  to  what  concerns  myself,  I  have  to  do  with  plenty  of 
unworthy  artifices  of  foolish  men,  who  would  gladly  bring  me 
under  lock  and  key,  if  they  could.  But  I  think  I  shall  be  able 
to  fight  my  way  through,  and  my  good  conscience  will  comfort 
me  in  any  case.  Besides,  how  should  any  honourable  fellow 
waver,  when  so  many  brave  men  have  died  for  their  father- 
land ?" 

And  again,  on  January  22nd  of  the  next  year  (18 16)  : 

"We  have  indeed  fought  out  the  struggle  with  the  evil  de- 
stroyer, but  much  remains  to  be  done,  and  many  are  wanting 
to  lie  down  and  sleep  again,  or  wish  to  bring  back  from  the  grave 
the  miserable  past.  I  know  not  how  it  will  go,  for  one  cannot 
judge  rightly  from  appearances,  but  I  think  the  Great  One 
above  has  not  shown  Himself  so  powerful  in  vain  ;  and  although 
certain  people  may  make  a  noise  about  it,  I  have  swallowed  too 
much  of  the  real  wine  to  be  able  to  relish  any  longer  their  stale 
water.  Let  it  go  with  me  as  it  may,  I  will  take  quietly  and 
humbly  whatever  God  sends  ;  but  I  will  never  call  light,  dark- 
ness, nor  right,  wrong.  The  clamour  of  certain  people,  the 
applause  or  reproach  of  the  multitude,  has  never  troubled  me, 
and  I  should  not  be  much  of  a  man  if  I  could  not  bear  with 
courage  the  twenty  or  thirty  years  which  remain  to  me,  in 
whatever  circumstances,  even  were  it  in  a  dungeon,  until 
through  sickness  or  old  age  my  earthly  strength  gives  way." 

But  for  the  time  the  danger  passed,  and  those  who 
valued  Arndt  still  possessed  influence  enough  to  obtain 


^T.  45—47.]  Prospects.  357 

for  him  a  post  of  some  importance.     As  early  as  January 

17,  1815,  Gneisenau  had  written  to  him: 

"  I  have  been  thinking,  in  reference  to  your  future  destina- 
tion, that  you  ought  to  be  appointed  Professor  of  History  to 
the  University  of  Cologne"  (Gneisenau  was  against  the  Univer- 
sity being  placed  at  Bonn),  "  because  of  the  great  service  you 
may  render  in  that  post,  in  the  formation  of  young  minds  ;  or 
would  you  prefer  a  post  in  the  administration  ?  But  there  your 
activity  would  be  much  more  limited,  both  as  to  time  and 
space.  Or  would  you  prefer  perfect  independence,  with  a  fixed 
yearly  salary  ?  Let  me  know  when  you  wish  to  talk  to  me 
about  this  subject,  and  I  will  stay  at  home  for  you." 

Arndt  himself  tells  us  that  the  first  of  these  proposals 
was  his  own  wish.  In  his  "  Nothgedrungener  Bericht" 
he  writes  : 

"  I  wished  to  remain  a  Prussian,  and  desired  nothing  more 
than  to  become  Professor  at  the  University  to  be  founded  on 
the  Rhine,  for  the  purpose,  as  I  thought,  of  helping  to  strengthen 
the  German  feeling  there,  but  as  my  accusers  say,  of  seducing 
and  destroying  youth.  I  asked  for  this  post  from  the  prince, 
the  Chancellor,  several  times  through  my  friends." 

"There  are  several  horses,"  he  writes,  Dec.  21,  1817, 
"  ready  saddled  for  me,  which  I  may  mount  if  I  please." 

And  refusing  an  invitation  to  come  back  to  Pomerania, 

he  adds  : 

"  I  must  repeat  my  'no.'  I  have  a  course  open  before  me  for 
study  and  the  employment  of  my  powers,  which  may  be  vigor- 
ous for  some  five  and  twenty  years  yet,  to  which  I  must  adhere, 
however  sweet  and  pleasant  it  might  be  to  spend  the  rest  of 
my  life  among  my  good  countrypeople  and  dear  friends,  and  in 
a  home  only  too  much  beloved." 

As  early  as  April  5th,  181 5,  in  the  charter  granted  to 
the  Rhenish  provinces,  the  King  of  Prussia  had  declared 
his  intention  of  founding  a  university  for  their  benefit. 


358  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1815— 17. 


Duisburg,  Cologne,  Bonn,  and  Wetzlar,  were  all  at 
different  times  proposed  as  its  scat  ;  but  finally  Bonn 
was  selected,  because  of  its  position  in  the  centre  of  the 
province,  its  charming  situation,  its  large  empty  palace, 
and  a  desire  to  compensate  "  the  inhabitants,  who  were 
distinguished  for  their  good  behaviour  and  orderly  dis- 
position," for  being  no  longer  the  residence  of  a  court. 
The  university  was  endowed  from  the  funds  of  extinct 
universities  and  schools  in  Cologne,  Coblentz,  and  Duis- 
burg, and  by  liberal  donations  from  the  public  treasury. 
The  palace  in  Bonn,  and  one  in  the  neighbouring  village 
of  Popplesdorf,  were  granted  to  it,  and  on  the  i8th  of 
October,  18 18,  "the  birth  of  the  new  high  school  was 
proclaimed  on  that  sacred  day  on  which,  five  years 
before,  the  independence  and  liberty  of  the  Fatherland 
had  been  won." 

In  this  university,  which  numbered  among  its  profes- 
sors many  well-known  names,  among  them  A.  W. 
Schlegel,  and  later,  Niebuhr,  Arndt  now  became  pro- 
fessor of  Modern  History.  He  had  settled  in  Bonn 
already  the  year  before,  as  soon  as  he  felt  sure  of  his 
appointment,  having  brought  from  Berlin  his  second 
wife,  the  half-sister  of  the  well-known  philosopher,  Dr. 
Fried  rich  Schleiermacher. 

Arndt's  acquaintance  with  Schleiermacher  was  of  old 
standing,  having  probably  come  about  through  Schleier- 
macher's  wife,  who  was  of  a  Riigen  family,  and  sister  to 
Frau  von  Kathen,  Arndt's  friend  and  correspondent. 
We  find  Schleiermacher  writing  from  Halle  in  1806,  to 
Frau  von  Kathen,  "  What  is  your  friend  Moritz  doing  ? 
Has  not  somebody  advised  him  to  cross  the  seas,  for  to 


JET.  45-47.]  ScJileierniacher.  359 


the  authors  who  are  in  favour  with  the  One  in  power,  he 
certainly  does  not  belong." 

At  that   time  Schleiermacher  himself  and  his  sister 
Nanna,  who    was   living  with   him,  were  also  suffering 
from  the  misery  of  that  disastrous  year.     He  was  then 
professor  in  the  University  of  Halle,    and   they   were 
driven  to  such  straits  during  the  occupation  of  the  town 
by  the  French,  that  they  had  to  combine  their  house- 
keeping with  Steffens  and  his  wife  ;  for  Schleiermacher 
says,  "  I  had  only  a  little  borrowed  money,  and  Steffens 
none  at  all.     If  we  had  not  shared,  we  should  have  both 
been  worse  off ;  w^e  save  wood,  light,  etc.,  in  our  house- 
keeping. .  .  .  We    live   as   poorly  as   possible  ;    indeed, 
more  so  than  is  good  for  us.     Wood  is  not  to  be  had." 

And  he  writes  again  :  "  My  sister  and  Steffens'  wife 
are  behaving  excellently.  Certainly  few  women  here  in 
such  a  plight  and  with  such  dark  prospects  have  been  as 
courageous  as  they  have." 

When  Halle  became  part  of  the  kingdom  of  West- 
phalia, Schleiermacher  went  to  Berlin  and  took  an  active 
part  in  the  foundation  of  the  new  university  there,  of  which 
he  became  professor.  Like  Fichte,  he  used  his  influence, 
which  soon  became  great,  both  as  a  preacher  and  a 
professor,  to  arouse  the  patriotism  of  the  Prussians. 
There  Arndt  would  meet  him  at  Reimer's  house  in  1809, 
and  the  beginning  of  181 2. 

When  the  spring  of  18 13  came,  and  Prussia  rose  to 
throw  off  her  chains,  Schleiermacher  worked  indefatig- 
ably  for  the  good  cause.  Though  very  delicate,  and 
rather  deformed,  he  entered  himself  in  the  Landsturm, 


3^0  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1817. 

and  went  constantly  to  exercise.  Writing  to  his  wife, 
whom  he  had  sent  to  a  place  of  safety,  he  says  :  "  In 
the  evening,  when  I  was  sitting  at  tea,  Twesten  came  in, 
and  we  had  to  collect  bread  and  rolls  from  every 
corner.  We  had  only  been  chatting  a  little  while  when 
in  came  Savigny,  Eichhorn,  Scheele,  and  Arndt.  For- 
tunately, there  was  a  sausage  in  the  house  ;  and  after  I 
had  got  over  the  first  difficulty,  and  had  explained  to 
them  that  they  must  do  with  one  teaspoon  between 
them,  we  enjoyed  ourselves  heartily,  and  a  glass  of 
wine  made  up  for  other  deficiencies." 

A  friendship  formed  in  such  times  and  under  such 
circumstances  was  likely  to  be  lasting,  though  it  is  not 
easy  to  imagine  two  men  more  dissimilar  in  character 
than  Arndt  and  Schleiermacher. 

"You  will  find  his  fresh  life  and  good-nature  un- 
changed. He  is  certainly  more  in  his  element  among 
you  (in  Riigen)  than  here,"  writes  Schleiermacher  in 
1 8 14.  "I  wish  he  could  find  a  place  to  settle  in, 
although  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  come  to  pass  ; — and 
then  a  home  of  his  own." 

Henriette  Herz  describes  Arndt  soon  after  this  time 
in  the  following  language  :  "  Arndt  is  a  man  for  whom 
I  have  the  greatest  respect,  and  who  has  always  shown 
me  the  greatest  kindness.  Yet  I  have  never  succeeded 
in  becoming  so  intimate  with  him,  as  I  have  often  felt  a 
strong  desire  to  be,  even  during  a  long  stay  in  his 
house.  I  think  the  reason  lay  in  this,  that  he  only  ap- 
preciated strong,  almost  heroic,  feminine  natures.  Most 
women  in  his  opinion  stood  much  beneath  men.  They 
were  to  him  only  as  flowers  or  children." 


^T.  47.]  Second  Marriage.  361 

Arndt  was  married  to  Nanna  Schleiermacher,  who  was 
about  twenty  years  his  junior,  at  Berlin,  on  September 
18,  1 8 17.  The  day  before,  the  Berlin  Gymnastic 
Society,  with  Jahn  at  its  head,  presented  him  with  a 
silver  cup,  surrounded  with  a  wreath  of  evergreens  and 
oak-leaves,  and  with  some  verses  from  Arndt's  "  Bundes- 
lied  "  engraved  upon  it,  and  the  inscription  :  "  To  the 
German  teacher,  writer,  singer,  and  speaker,  Ernst 
Moritz  Arndt,  from  the  Berlin  Gymnastic  Society 
1817." 

Arndt  himself  writes  of  his  marriage  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  : 

"  I  was  now  little  short  of  fifty,  and  was  to  feel  the  truth  of 
the  old  saying,  that  fortune  goes  with  youth,  and  that  age  must 
not  look  for  her  company.  Hitherto  she  had  led  me  through 
many  dangerous  situations  and  circumstances,  and  with  little 
help  on  my  part  had  placed  me  in  a  position  which  I  may  well 
term  happy.  Now,  in  18 17,  she  bestowed  on  me  one  last  great 
favour,  and  then  as  it  were  took  her  leave  of  me,  or  at  least  she 
only  ran  occasionally  for  a  little  way  by  my  side,  when,  before, 
she  would  have  run  in  front,  and  prepared  the  road  and  a 
lodging  for  me.  This  last  great  gift  was  a  brave,  faithful  wife, 
who  has  ever  since  loyally  helped  me  to  bear  up  against  my 
misfortunes  :  Nanna  Maria  Schleiermacher,  from  Upper  Silesia, 
sister  to  Professor  Dr.  Friedrich  Schleiermacher,  of  Berlin.  Her 
father  was  a  native  of  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  thus  she  was 
returning  to  the  home  of  her  race. 

"  Immediately  after,  the  first  blow  fell  upon  me,  I  lost  full 
two-thirds  of  my  library,  which  had  been  shipped  to  come  from 
Stralsund  to  Cologne.  I  had  made  a  tolerable  collection  of 
the  classics,  and  of  northern  literature.  These  were  completely 
spoilt  by  sea  water  on  the  transit,  together  with  a  good  many 
papers  which  I  had  myself  written  during  the  past  twenty  years. 
An  error  had  been  made  in  the  insurance  of  these  books,  and  so 


363  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1818. 

I  never  obtained  the  slightest  compensation  for  my  loss,  which  in- 
deed, in  many  ways  was  beyond  the  power  of  money  to  repair. 
In  fact,  though  it  is  usual  to  show  pity  for  those  who  have  suffered 
by  shipwreck  or  fire,  I  never  received  a  single  book  to  replace 
them.  This,  too,  was  a  sign  of  the  approach  of  old  age,  which, 
to  quote  my  dear  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  finds  favour  with  no  nnan. 
But  there  was  one  bright  spot  in  this  mishap  :  that  among 
many  valuable  papers,  a  heap  of  rubbish  perished,  which  I  had 
collected  for  my  own  amusement,  consisting  of  those  plans  and 
schemes  which  I  have  mentioned  before  as  being  sent  to  Stein, 
and  which  used  to  pass  through  my  hands.  If  these  had  es- 
caped they  might  have  brought  me  into  serious  trouble  in  the 
examination  which  followed,  and  might  have  spoilt  many  a 
happy  hour  for  me.  For  naturally  I  had  preserved  the  maddest 
and  most  extravagant  of  these  suggestions,  and  at  least  it  would 
have  appeared  as  if  I  had  been  connected  with  some  of  the 
worst  and  most  dangerous  adventurers  and  Bedlamites,  parti- 
cularly as  in  many  cases  I  could  not  remember  date,  place,  or 
author.  " 

While  waiting  for  the  opening  of  the  University, 
Arndt's  pen  was  not  idle.  Writing  from  Bonn,  April  4, 
1 8 18,  to  Professor  Schildener,  he  says: 

"  I  have  been  working  hard  this  winter  ;  that  is,  I  have  been 
turning  out  some  old  material,  partly  for  the  fire  and  partly  for 
the  press.  Much  of  it  is  ten  years  old — a  good  deal  of  it 
Swedish.  I  am  trying  if  possible  to  clear  up  my  work  this 
summer,  as  by-and-by  there  may  be  something  else  to  do.  I 
have  brought  out  '  Poems,'  Part  I.  and  '  Mahrchen'  (partly 
old  stuff,  some  of  which  may  please  you),  and  in  a  it\N  months 
will  appear  the  fourth  part  of  the  '  Spirit  of  the  Age,'  and  the 
second  part  of  the  '  Poems.'  " 

These  two  volumes  of  poems  contain  many  which  he 
left  out  in  the  later  editions.  The  next  year,  18 19,  he 
published   besides    a    little    book   "  On    the  Word   and 


^T.  48.]        "  Spirit  of  the  Age  " — Fourth  Part.  363 

Church  Poetry  "  ("  Vom  Wort  und  Kirchenhed  "),  which 
contained  a  good  many  original  hymns ;  and  also  his 
"  Recollections  of  Sweden  "  ("  Erinnerungen  aus  Schwe- 
den"),  in  which  are  two  plays  written  many  years  before. 

The  second  part  of  th^  "  Mahrchen  "  did  not  appear 
until  1842,  and  was  written  in  Plattdeutsch.  The  scene  of 
many  of  these  fairy  tales  is  placed  in  the  island  of 
Riigen,  near  his  old  home,  and  many  of  them  are  pro- 
bably founded  on  stories  he  had  heard  in  his  childhood 
from  the  country  people.     Schildener  writes  of  them  : 

"  Your  '  Mahrchen '  have  aroused  much  interest  and 
excitement  everywhere  here,  and  in  my  house  too. 
Karl  thinks  '  Klas  Avenstaken '  the  best ;  Marie,  '  The 
Princess  Snowflake  ;'  and  I,  '  The  Nine  Hills  of  Rambin.' 
Klas  Avenstaken  would,  in  my  opinion,  have  been  able 
to  eat  his  way  straight  through  the  mountain,  and  then 
the  mountain  would  have  had  no  need  to  turn  round  !" 

The  more  important  work,  more  important  at  any 
rate  in  its  consequences  to  himself,  the  fourth  part  of 
the  "  Spirit  of  the  Age,"  was  written  in  the  winter  of 
1 8 17-18,  and  published  the  next  summer.  "  The  demon 
of  politics  is  torturing  me,"  he  wrote  in  December,  1817, 
and  he  sought  relief  in  his  pen.  Stein,  too,  wrote  to  him  : 
"  The  present  moment  is  weighty  and  critical.  Men 
like  you,  who  have  lived  in  the  tumult  of  practical  life, 
and  in  various  circumstances  and  connections,  should 
lift  up  their  voices  and  make  use  of  their  influence." 

Longr  after  he  wrote  of  it : 

"  In  the  years  1S17  and  18 18,  questioning  and  expectation 
were  busy  with  the  Constitution  in  many  German  countries,  and 


564  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1818. 


men's  minds  were  extraordinarily  excited  about  it.  In  several 
of  the  German  States  this  excitement  and  anxiety  was  quietly 
and  easily  set  at  rest  by  the  wisdom  and  good  feeling  of  the 
rulers.  To  soothe  this  almost  stormy  excitement,  expectation, 
and  anxiety,  to  warn,  to  quiet,  and  to  comfort  both  old  and 
young,  to  moderate  the  force  of  passions,  of  too  eager  hope  and 
too  one-sided  party  spirit ;  in  short,  to  comfort,  to  calm,  and  to 
clear  up  the  subject,  such  was  the  purpose  of  the  book,  as  indeed 
its  whole  contents  show.  It  is,  I  think,  written  in  general  with 
the  moderation  of  feeling,  thought,  and  expression  which  were 
suitable  to  a  time  when  there  was  no  longer  war  in  the  country, 
and  when  the  foreign  rule,  and  foreign  party,  had  been  driven 
out  and  humiliated." 

It  dealt  with  most  of  the  burning  questions  of  the 
day — the  unity  of  Germany  ;  constitutional  government, 
and  the  liberty  of  the  Press ;  secret  societies,  which 
he  entirely  condemned  ;  the  gymnastic  societies,  and 
other  matters  respecting  the  student  class,  such  as 
amusements  and  commemorations.  Stein  wrote  of  the 
book  that  it  had  given  him  much  pleasure,  that  "it  con- 
tained a  multitude  of  sound  and  excellent  principles, 
thoughts,  and  opinions  about  the  conditions  and  neces- 
sities of  the  present  time,"  which  he  hoped  would  bring 
forth  rich  and  ripe  fruit,  and  in  a  letter  to  Gagern  about 
a  book  which  the  latter  had  published,  he  wrote : 

"  It  has  been  preceded  by  another,  the  fourth  part  of  Arndt's 
'  Spirit  of  the  Age,'  which  he  has  sent  to  me,  and  which  con- 
tains much  that  is  sound,  true,  and  good  ;  and  I  honour  the  man 
for  this,  that  while  he  burns  with  anger  against  the  worthless,  he 
is  not  bitter  or  unfeeling." 

In  the  summer  of  this  year.  Stein  had  Invited  Arndt 
to  take  part  in  the  "  Monumenta  Germanica,"    a  pro- 


JET.  48.]  Monumeiita  Gennanica.  365 


jected  edition  of  German  historians  from  the  earhest 
times,  and  wrote  to  him  requesting  him  to  give  his 
opinion  on  certain  points  of  the  arrangement. 

Arndt  repHed  with  a  long  letter,  in  which,  after  giving 
the  results  of  a  consultation  with  his  colleague,  Pro- 
fessor Hiillmann,  he  continues  : 

"And  I  as  co-worker?  If  I  were  not  also  in  many  other 
ways  unfit  for  the  work,  I  might  say  with  reason  I  have  not 
time.  I  have  lost  five  or  six  years  in  other  things  ;  this  is  work 
which  suits  those  whom  God  and  their  own  hearts  have  always 
let  sit  quietly  among  their  books.  If  I  have  here  and  there 
gained  something  of  knowledge  of  life,  and  the  opinions  of  the 
world,  and  of  a  free  political  estimation  of  things  and  people,  I 
certainly  need  four  or  five  years  of  quiet  reading  and  repetition. 
When  the  University  gets  into  work,  I  shall  have  much  to  do, 
since,  though  many  others  are  more  learned  than  I  am,  I  can 
at  least  speak  out  firmly,  and  like  a  German.  I  can,  however, 
promise  to  do  something  towards  the  filling  up  and  correcting 
of  the  '  Glossaria  medisevi,'  out  of  my  stock  of  knowledge  of 
old  Scottish,  Icelandic,  Scandinavian,  and  old  Saxon." 

After  a  visit  to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  undertaken  "to 
mend  a  head  which  from  childhood  has  been  plagued 
with  toothache  and  rheumatism,"  he  returned  to  Bonn 
for  the  opening  of  the  University,  to  take  up  a  work 
there  which  he  fondly  hoped  would  be  the  employment 
of  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  writes  to  Frau  von 
Kathen  on  October  19,  1818,  the  day  after  the  University 
had  been  declared  open. 

"  It  is  long  since  you  heard  from  us,  my  dear  friend,  so  long 
that  we  should  be  ashamed  of  ourselves,  were  it  not  that  the 
last  few  months  there  has  been  a  whirl  and  confusion  of  people 
here,  which  has  made  it  difficult  to  do  anything  serious. 

"  Bonn  has  been  like  a  great  high-road,  and  our  house  often 


■3^66  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  i8i8. 


like  an  inn,  so  many  emperors  and  kings,*  professors  and 
students,  strangers  and  acquaintances,  have  been  up  and  down 
the  Rhine,  and  many  of  them  have  knocked  at  our  door.  Then 
the  last  weeks  Bacchus  has  come  with  a  very  rich  vintage,  which 
promises  a  noble  juice.  The  merry-making  has  not  been  so 
great  since  the  year  iSii ;  the  rich  blessing  of  God  and  the 

finest  weather  have  made  this  year  right  jubilant 

Now  we  hope  life  will  flow  along  its  banks  more  quietly,  and  in 
the  usual  still  course  that  peace  will  come  back  to  us,  which  is 
disturbed  by  even  the  most  innocent  pleasures  when  one  is  too 
long  without  work. 

"  A  part  of  the  confusion  is  due  to  the  professors  and  students 
arriving,  and  all  the  visits  and  occupations  which  fall  upon  us, 
because  we  are  the  oldest  members  of  the  institution,  and  are 
therefore  called  upon  for  advice  and  assistance.  For  it  is  really 
at  last  going  to  begin  here,  and  I  shall  soon  open  my  mouth 
from  the  chair  of  history." 

The  calendar  of  the  University  announces  lectures  by 
Arndt  on  the  Germania  of  Tacitus,  the  history  of  the 
German  nation  and  the  German  empire,  on  the  last 
three  centuries,  on  the  history  of  our  own  times,  and  the 
unfolding  of  its  spirit  and  activity,  etc.  Heinrich  Heine 
was  a  student  at  Bonn  in  1819,  and  mentions  that  he 
"heard  in  one  and  the  same  term  four  courses  of  lectures 
in  which  German  antiquities  of  the  most  distant  date 
were  treated  of,  among  which  were,  first,  the  '  History 
of  the  German  Language,'  by  Schlegel,  who  for  three 
months  unfolded  the  quaintest  hypotheses  concerning 
the  German  language  ;  and,  second,  the  "  Germania  of 
Tacitus,"  by  Arndt,  who  sought  to  find  in  the  old 
German  forests  those  virtues  which  he  missed  in  the 
drawing-rooms  of  the  present  time." 

*  It  was  the  yeai-  of  the  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 


JET.  48.]  Houscbiiildins;.  367 

As  soon  as  Arndt  was  fairly  settled  to  work  he  built 
himself  a  house  by  the  side  of  the  Rhine,  of  which  he 
writes  to  Georg  Reimer,  his  bookseller. 

"  I  have  taken  a  burden  upon  myself,  or  rather  I  am  going 
to  lay  one  on  the  left  shoulder  of  the  old  Rhine,  which  he, 
however,  will  feel  no  more  than  an  elephant  does  a  fly !  a 
little  house  !  a  sort  of  settlement  in  this  unsettled  time.  Man 
lives  here  but  once,  and  then  not  for  long,  so  at  least  I  will 
have  water,  sky,  and  mountains  at  first  hand.  If  I  collect  the 
small  remains  of  my  paternal  inheritance,  and  add  to  it  some 
thousand  thalers  which  a  friend  here  most  kindly  has  offered  me, 
the  humble  little  house,  with  a  few  trees  round  it,  may  be  to  be 
seen  in  a  year  and  a  day  before  the  Coblentz  gate.  You  will 
do  me  a  great  favour  if  you  can  help  me  with  a  hundred  fried- 
richs  d'or  next  spring.  There  shall  be  a  little  room  always 
ready  for  you." 

The  friend  mentioned  in  this  letter  seems  to  have 
been  Count  Gessler.  But  Arndt  only  drew  a  hundred 
friedrichs  d'or,  and  some  years  after,  when  he  was  thinking 
that  he  might  be  driven  to  leave  the  country,  Gessler  re- 
minded him  that  there  were  still  five  hundred  thalers  at 
his  disposal.     To  Schildener  he  describes  his  house  as 

"A  pleasant  home  on  the  Rhine,  which  has  unquestionably 
the  pleasantest  situation  near  the  town  in  the  whole  neighbour- 
hood. I  chose  the  exact  spot  myself  It  lies  eight  minutes 
from  the  gate  of  the  town  and  from  our  lecture-rooms." 


Here  Arndt  received  any  of  the  students  who  liked  to 
come  to  his  cheerful,  unconstrained  evening  parties,  to 
which  no  special  invitation  or  recommendation  Avas 
needed.  They  were  a  contrast  to  the  aristocratic  and 
elegant  soirees  of  A.  W,  von  Schlegel,  in  his  luxurious 


368  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1819. 


house,  to  which  no  student  was  admitted  unless  he  could 
be  of  some  use  by  his  musical  talents,  or  was  an  especial 
favourite,  like  H.  Heine.  Before,  however,  the  house 
was  ready  for  them  to  move  into,  Arndt's  second  son  was 
born  on  the  i8th  of  June,  1819;  Stein  was  one  of  his 
godfathers,  and  Arndt  gave  him  the  name  of  Carl 
Siegerich,  "The  little  fellow  is  strong  and  fresh," 
Arndt  writes,  "and  may  some  day,  if  God  grants  him 
to  grow  up,  do  honour  to  his  good  name,  and  the  lucky 
day  of  his  birth." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

GATHERING   OF   THE   STORM. 

The  Burschenschaft. — Festival  of  the  Wartburg. — Royal  reprimand. — 
Murder  of  Kotzebue. — Arrest  of  Arndt. — Seizure  of  his  papers. — Articles 
in  the  Allgemeine  .Staatszeitung. 

The  storm,  however,  was  gathering,  and  the  two  years 
which  Arndt  had  now  spent  at  Bonn  had  not  been  un- 
disturbed. The  party  that  desired  the  return  to  the  old 
state  of  things  was  gaining  power  constantly.  Gorres' 
RJieinischer  Merkiir  had  been  suppressed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  1816,  and  orders  had  been  sent  that  the  censors 
in  the  Rhenish  province  should  redouble  their  vigilance 
in  examining  gazettes  and  political  journals.  When  the 
provincial  assemblies  ventured,  in  18 17,  to  urge  the  ful- 
filment of  the  promise  of  a  constitution,  they  were 
answered  that  "  those  who  admonish  the  King  are  guilty 
of  doubting  the  inviolability  of  his  word." 

Arndt  had  written  of  the  fourth  part  of  his  "  Spirit  of 
the  Age,"  before  it  appeared,  that  it  "  contained  passages 
about  mysticism,  the  police  and  the  gymnastic  societies, 
which  would  probably  attract  readers,  and  perhaps  some 
enemies  ;"  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  enemies  showed 
themselves.  He  writes  to  Stein  at  the  beginning  of 
December,  1818  : 

24 


3/0  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1819. 

"  The  police,  '  the  Wittgenstein  Kampzianers,'  are  said  to  be 
very  angry  about  my  remarks  on  the  police  in  the  fourth  part  of 
my  '  Spirit  of  the  Age.'  I  cannot  help  it,  even  if  they  succeed 
in  destroying  my  civil  prosperity.  I  consider  the  accursed 
foreign  invention  a  worse  misfortune  than  a  ten  or  twenty 
years'  war,  and  as  bad  as  a  pestilence  or  a  famine." 

Meanwhile,  there  were  many  who  found  it  hard  to  give 
up  the  hope  of  a  new  Germany.  With  Arndt,  they  said, 
"We  have  seen  the  dawn,  and  shall  the  morning  mists 
make  us  fear  that  the  sun  Avill  not  be  able  to  penetrate?" 
But  these  were  suspected  and  feared  by  the  Govern- 
ments. The  German  national  spirit,  which  Arndt  had 
desired  to  see,  began  to  show  itself  in  forms  which  many 
thought  would  prove  dangerous  to  the  governments. 
The  students  in  the  University  of  Jena  took  a  leading 
part  in  this  movement,  by  forming,  on  June  18,  18 16, 
the  Jena  Burschenschaft.  They  then  proceeded  to  ad- 
dress a  circular  to  the  other  universities  of  Germany,  pro- 
posing to  celebrate  in  the  next  year  the  tercentenary  of 
the  Reformation  and  the  fourth  anniversary  of  the  battle 
of  Leipzig.  Arndt  himself  took  no  part  in  this  celebra- 
tion, but  he  had  published  three  years  before  a  pamphlet 
called  "Ein  Wort  uber  die  Feier  der  Leipziger  Schlacht" 
("A  Word  on  the  Celebration  of  the  Battle  of  Leipzig  "), 
in  which  he  had  warmly  urged  that  it  should  be  univer- 
sally observed,  proposing  that  on  the  i8th  of  October — 

"As  soon  as  it  grows  dark,  in  the  whole  of  Germany,  from 
Stralsund  to  Trieste,  and  from  Memel  to  Luxemburg,  fires  should 
be  lighted  on  the  tops  of  all  the  mountains,  or,  where  these  were 
wanting,  on  all  the  hills  and  towers,  and  should  be  kept  burn- 
ing till  midnight.     They  would  be  like  messengers  carrying 


/ET.  49-]  Festival  of  the    V/artbiwg.  37  r 

tokens  of  love  and  joy,  and  announcing  to  all  their  neighbours 
that  there  was  now  but  one  feeling  and  one  thought  among  all 
Germans.  Around  these  fires  should  gather  all  the  people  in 
festive  garments,  with  their  heads  wreathed  with  green  oak- 
leaves,  and  their  hearts  with  green  thoughts ;  they  should  relate 
to  one  another  what  happened  on  these  days,  holding  banquets 
and  dances,  and  in  their  joy  thanking  God  who  had  granted 
to  them  again  in  German  tones  to  rejoice  in  the  rapture  and 
pride  of  liberty.  Then  in  all  the  towns  and  villages  let  the 
bells  ring  in  with  glad  chimes  the  feast  of  the  next  day.  The 
19th  October  is  the  great  solemn  day  which  the  authorities  of 
all  places  should  celebrate  as  a  feast-day.  The  morning  should 
be  set  apart  to  splendid  processions  of  the  dignitaries  and 
authorities,  assemblies  in  the  churches,  and  thanksgivings  and 
songs  of  praise  to  God.  The  afternoon  should  be  given  up 
to  worldly  joys  and  feasts,  and  may  be  celebrated  in  many 
ways." 

Then,  after  proposing  that  all  should  on  that  day 
adopt  a  universal  German  costume,  a  subject  which  he 
had  treated  in  an  earlier  pamphlet,  "  Ueber  Sitte,  Mode, 
und  Kleidertracht "  ("  Manners,  Fashions,  and  Dress  "), 
and  that  the  day  should  be  made  a  great  feast  for  chil- 
dren, he  goes  on  : 

"  And  that  the  creatures  too  may  feel  what  bright  days 
have  risen  for  the  German  people,  let  not  only  men,  but  every- 
thing living  that  serves  and  helps  man,  be  cared  for  better  than 
usual.  Let  the  house-dog  and  the  hound  get  better  bits,  the 
cow  and  the  ox  the  best  hay,  and  the  horses  fresh  oats." 

The  feast  in  the  hands  of  the  students  was  carefully 
arranged  and  well  managed,  and  passed  off  successfully, 
except  for  one  little  Incident.  Some  of  the  students,  in 
imitation  of  Luther's  burning  of  the  Pope's  bull,  flung  into 
the  fire  a  number  of  books,  works  of  Kotzebue,  Schmalz, 

24 — 2 


372  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1819. 

Kamptz,  and  others,  who  were,  or  whom  they  supposed 
to  be,  enemies  of  the  union  of  the  German  nation.  This 
act,  which  had  not  been  in  the  original  plan,  caused  a 
great  outcry,  and  Kamptz,  Minister  of  Police,  sent  an 
indignant  protest  to  the  Duke  of  Weimar,  who  had 
patronised  the  celebration.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  a 
strong  opposition  feeling,  a  general  German  Burschen- 
schaft  was  founded  at  Jena  on  October  18,  18 18,  by 
deputies  from  fourteen  universities.  F.  W.  Krummacher, 
in  his  autobiography,  gives  an  account  of  the  ceremony 
of  initiation,  which  shows  the  spirit  which  animated  the 
students.  He  says,  "  Of  course  I  put  down  my  name  at 
once  for  admission  into  the  '  holy  alliance  '  of  the  Ger- 
man Burschenschaft,  in  which  I  soon  found  myself 
honoured  with  a  charge  ;  and  even  now,  when  I  go  back 
to  those  youthful  days  of  surging,  boisterous  life,  the 
solemn  elevating  feelings  reawake  in  me  which  were 
first  called  up  by  the  assembly  of  the  whole  Burschen- 
schaft, convoked  to  receive  the  new  members.  The  large 
brightly-lighted  hall,  decorated  with  the  insignia  of  the 
society,  filled  to  the  last  seat  by  the  great,  closely- 
packed,  sanguine  throng  of  the  pillars  of  the  new  era  of 
the  Fatherland — such  we  thought  ourselves  ;  before  us, 
on  a  platform,  a  long  table  covered  with  a  cloth  of  black, 
red,  and  gold,  on  which  lay  crossed  the  naked  swords 
and  the  book  of  the  society,  while  behind  it  stood  the 
officers,  twelve  in  number,  some  decorated  with  the  iron 
cross  of  the  War  of  Liberation,  with  the  president  in  the 
middle  overshadowed  by  the  German  standard.  Then 
the  ceremony  began  with  the  (Arndt's)  impassioned 
song,  '  Sind  wir  vereint  zur  guten   Stunde,'  poured  out 


^T.  49.]       ■         •    Stourdza^s  Memorial.  373 

from  eight  hundred  fresh  sonorous  throats  to  an  orches- 
tral accompaniment ;  after  this,  a  powerful  address  from 
the  president  to  the  new-comers,  and  then  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  old,  holy,  virtuous,  and  knightly  cus- 
toms of  the  fathers,  and  to  all  that  was  contained  in  the 
device  of  the  league.  How  could  all  this  fail  to  impress 
a  novice  in  the  highest  degree,  and  irresistibly  to  carry 
away  the  youthful  fancy  into  the  raptures  of  an  ideal 
world  ?  And,  in  truth,  the  whole  movement  of  the 
Burschenschaft  was  not  mere  froth  and  fitful,  boyish 
fantasies.  Enthusiasm  it  was,  but  of  a  kind,  even  if 
the  enthusiasts  were  but  half  conscious  of  it,  in  which 
the  noble  and  the  beautiful  were  striving  for  exist- 
ence." 

Gymnastic  societies  were  established  in  all  the  uni- 
versity towns  and  many  other  places  ;  and  the  students 
adopted  a  national  costume,  and  gave  up  the  use  of  any 
language  but  German. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  fourth  part  of  the 
"  Spirit  of  the  Age "  appeared.  As  has  been  already 
mentioned,  Arndt  was  prepared  for  its  making  him 
enemies.  Its  language  was  bold  and  outspoken,  and  it 
was  plainly  on  the  popular  side,  and  those  in  authority 
were  beginning  to  be  frightened  at  the  strong  desire 
awakened  in  the  people  to  have  a  share  in  the  govern- 
ment. The  Russian  Councillor  Stourdza  presented  a 
memorial  to  the  Congress,  assembled  this  summer  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  which  he  complained  that  the  German 
universities  were  centres  of  revolutionary  movements,  an 
act  of  interference  on  the  part  of  Russia  which  so  greatly 
incensed  the  German  students   that   they   sent   him  a 


374  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1819. 


challenge.     That  his  book  would  not  please  the  Govern- 
ment Arndt  could  not  fail  to  know. 

"  I  am  sonietimes  worried  by  powerful  political  enemies," 
he  writes  in  November,  18 18,  "  but  my  anxiety  about  them  is 
short ;  and  should  there  really  be  danger,  I  hope,  with  God 
and  truth  on  my  side,  to  bear  it  quietly  and  courageously. 
Yet  indeed  the  weak  mortal  must  pray  :  '  Lord,  lead  us  not 
into  temptation.'  " 

It  could  therefore  be  no  matter  of  surprise  to  him 
to  receive  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  year,  18 19,  a 
letter  from  Count  Solms-Laubach,  telling  him  that  he 
had  been  directed  to  communicate  to  him  an  order  from 
the  Cabinet,  respecting  the  fourth  part  of  the  "  Spirit  of 
the  Age."  "  I  have  infinite  regret  in  executing  a  com- 
mission which  will  be  so  specially  painful  to  you,  as  your 
attachment  to  the  person  of  the  King  is  well  known  to 
me."     The  contents  of  the  Cabinet  order  are  as  follows  : 

"  '  Professor  Arndt  was  included  among  the  number  of  the 
professors  appointed  to  Bonn,  because  his  talents  were  acknow- 
ledged, and  confidence  was  reposed  in  him  that  he  would  satis- 
lactorily  discharge  his  important  duties  as  a  teacher  of  youth, 
not  only  in  his  teaching,  but  in  his  conduct  and  his  writings ; 
but  these  expectations,  although  the  Chancellor  fully  intimated 
them  to  him,  he  has  not  fulfilled  in  the  fourth  part  of  the  "  Spirit 
of  the  Age."  His  Majesty  indeed  will  not  believe  that  the 
design  of  it  was  blameworthy,  but,  at  least,  the  book  contains 
very  unbecoming  and  useless  things,  which  are  particularly 
unsuitable  to  a  teacher  of  youth,  and  may  work  injuriously  on 
them.  His  Majesty  does  not  at  all  mean  to  limit  free  discussion, 
but  commissions  the  Cultus-lSIinister  to  warn  him  and  to  require 
him  in  future  to  be  cautious,  as  his  Majesty  cannot  have  any 
teachers  in  the  Prussian  universities  who  lay  down  principles 
such  as  those  contained  in  the  fourth  part  of  the  "  Spirit  of  the 


JET.  49.]  Murder  of  Kotzehue.  375 

Age,"  and  on  the  next  occasion  of  the  kind  he  will  be  removed 
from  his  post.' " 

To  Count  Solms  Laubach,  with  whom  "he  was  on 
such  friendly  terms  that  he  could  write  to  him  unre- 
strainedly," Arndt  wrote  on  the  receipt  of  this  letter : 

"  If  some  words  in  the  book  may  have  been  written  with  a 
vehemence  or  a  carelessness  which  may  admit  of  misinterpre- 
tation, yet,  though  kings  and  emperors  may  think  otherwise,  I 
have  no  need  before  the  Highest  Emperor  to  be  ashamed  of  my 
principles,  nor  of  the  feelings  which  brought  the  book  into  the 
world.  ...  I  will  now  wait  quiedy  to  see  how  things  will  go,  or 
where  the  Kamptzians  and  Schmalzians  may  drag  me." 

He  also  wrote  to  Prince  Hardenberg,  to  whom  he 
owed  his  appointment,  and  reiterated  his  assertion  that 
though  certain  words  and  expressions  might  be  ill-timed 
and  unmeasured,  he  had  no  need  to  be  ashamed  of  the 
principles  expressed  in  it,  and  that  though  his  professor- 
ship was  "  a  darling  child  longed  for  and  much  loved," 
he  would  give  it  up  quietly  if  he  could  not  live  in  it 
with  honour. 

No  further  proceedings  were  taken  at  the  time,  and 
the  affair  would  probably  have  dropped  out  of  notice, 
but  for  the  unhappy  murder  of  Kotzebue,  on  the  28th  of 
March.  A  fanatical  student,  named  Carl  Sand,  con- 
sidering Kotzebue  the  chief  of  the  enemies  of  Germany, 
determined  upon  his  death,  and  after  brooding  over  his 
plan  for  some  months  deliberately  carried  it  into  execu- 
tion. The  deed  caused  a  panic  throughout  Germany.  It 
was  assumed  to  be  the  act  not  of  an  individual,  but  of 
an  extensive  association  among  the  students,  and  the 


376  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d,  1819. 


excitement  was  increased  on  the  ist  of  July  by  an  at- 
tempt made  by  another  student,  Karl  Lohnung,  on  the 
life  of  the  President  of  the  Government  of  Nassau,  Von 

Ibell 

The  Government  immediately  proceeded  to  strong 
measures.  The  Burschenschaft  was  dissolved  by  its 
order.  The  "  Turnvater "  Jahn  was  arrested  in  the 
middle  of  the  night  of  the  13th  of  July,  and  carried 
away  to  Kiistrin,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  the 
police  entered  the  houses  of  Arndt  and  two  other 
of  the  professors  of  Bonn  University,  and  seized  their 
papers. 

The  following  description  of  the  proceeding  is  taken 
from  the  "  Recollections  of  Henriette  Herz  :" 

"  On  my  return  from  Italy  he  (Arndt)  entertained  me 
hospitably  in  his  house  at  Bonn  during  the  months  of  July 
and  August.  His  wife,  Schleiermacher's  sister,  had  been 
my  friend  before  her  marriage.  Her  eldest  son  had  been 
born  but  a  short  time  before  I  came  to  Bonn,  in  July.  A 
few  days  after  my  arrival,  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning 
of  July  14th,  I  heard  a  knock  at  the  door  of  my  bed- 
room. As  it  was  so  early,  I  concluded  some  one  had 
made  a  mistake  in  the  room,  and  did  not  open  the  door. 
But  after  some  time  I  heard  an  unusual  commotion  in 
the  passage,  and  when  I  did  open  I  found  it  occupied  by 
police  officers  and  gens-d'armes.  Going  to  the  window, 
I  saw  some  more  of  these  gentlemen  posted  before  the 
house.  Soon  after  Frau  Arndt  sent  to  tell  me  that  her 
husband's  papers  were  being  searched.  In  the  meantime 
the  news  of  what  was  going  on  had  spread  in  the  town. 
The  students   assembled   in    front  of   the    house.     One 


;et.  49-J  Seizure  of  Arndfs  Papers.  377 


of  them  who  had  succeeded  in  penetrating  into  the 
house,  a  young  man  from  Frankfort,  came  to  my  room, 
and  communicated  to  me  his  intention  of  letting  in  the 
students,  who  were  in  front  of  the  house,  that  they 
might  interrupt  the  inspection  and  sequestration  of  the 
papers,  and,  if  possible,  in  the  tumult  get  them  out  of  the 
way.  As  he  seemed  to  wish  for  my  opinion  of  the  plan, 
I  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  him  very  clearly  and  earnestly 
that  he  must  give  up  entirely  such  a  foolish,  indeed 
mad,  undertaking.  Besides  the  danger  which  it  would 
bring  on  the  students  themselves,  it  would  necessarily 
injure  Arndt  and  his  cause.  To  my  satisfaction  I  saw 
the  students  soon  after  take  up  their  position  on  a  bank 
opposite  the  house,  watching  quietly  for  the  end  of  the 
affair.  Not  long  after  I  saw  Arndt's  papers  brought  out 
of  the  house  in  a  number  of  great  sacks,  as  big  as  sacks 
of  flour,  and  put  into  a  chaise,  which  was  waiting  for  the 
purpose  in  the  street,  and  which  drove  off  with  them. 
Soon  after,  the  early  knock  at  my  door  was  explained  ; 
the  wife  of  Professor  Welcker,  the  jurist,  with  whom  the 
investigation  had  begun,  had  sent  a  messenger,  who  was 
to  v\^ake  me  and  inform  me  of  the  proceedings  in  her 
house,  that  I  might  warn  Arndt.  The  plan,  indeed,  had 
failed,  but  if  the  news  had  reached  Arndt  it  would 
scarcely  have  altered  the  case,  as  doubtless  he  would  not 
have  thought  it  advisable  to  take  any  step.  Arndt's 
manner  after  this  event,  though  grave,  betrayed  no  dis- 
may. But  that  he  was  inwardly  greatly  disturbed  was 
evident  from  the  fact  that  he  used  to  talk  to  himself  so 
vehemently  at  night,  that  I,  whose  bedroom  was  next  to 


378  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1819. 


his,  was    often  awakened   from    my   sleep   by   his    de- 
clamations." 

This  proceeding  called  forth  a  long  letter  of  remon- 
strance from  Arndt,  addressed  to  Prince  Hardenberg, 
complaining  that  the  police,  in  seizing  his  papers  and 
those  of  two  other  professors,  had  violated  the  law  in 
the  most  glaring  manner. 

"  Nevertheless,"  he  adds,  "  I  can  be  quiet  and  confident.  I 
have  never  been  mixed  up  with  any  secret  plotting,  either  with 
the  old  or  the  young,  because,  both  from  nature  and  from  prin- 
ciple, I  hate  all  secret  intrigues  like  snakes  of  hell." 

He  goes  on  to  lament  that  "the  poor  German  cannot 
say,  like  the  Englishman,  or  his  own  forefathers,  '  My 
house  is  my  castle,'"  but  declares  that  "though  his 
venomous  enemies  may  drive  him  from  his  post  at  the 
University  they  shall  not  drive  him  from  the  position  he 
has  taken  up." 

The  three  professors  also  addressed  a  united  protest 
to  Beyme,  who  was  the  minister  employed  in  revising 
the  laws  for  the  newly-conquered  territory,  in  which 
they  relate  how  "early  in  the  morning  of  July  15,  we 
were  suddenly  awaked  from  sleep,  by  the  entrance  of 
officers  of  the  gens-d'armerie,  armed  gens-d'armes,  and 
commissaries  of  police  into  our  dwellings,  and  how,  in 
the  case  of  Professor  C.  T.  Welcker,  the  officers  of  the 
gens-d'armerie,  in  spite  of  all  the  protestations  of  the 
servant-maid,  had  followed  her  up  into  his  wife's  bedroom. 
According  to  their  own  statement  they  had  travelled 
in  plain  clothes,  and  stayed  here  more  than  a  day,  to 
reconnoitre   the   ground    before   they  appeared    at  our 


^T.  49.]  Protest  of  the  Professors.  379 

houses  in  their  military  uniforms,  and  they  made  use  of 
the  old  artifices  of  the  universally-hated  secret  police 
abolished  by  his  Majesty,  after  the  fall  of  despotism,  to 
the  universal  joy  and  satisfaction  of  all  citizens,  by  an- 
nouncing   themselves   at  the  house  of   Professor  C.   T. 
Welcker  as  friends  coming  to  take  leave  of  him.     None 
of  the  local  authorities  Avere  informed  of  the  act,  or  were 
present  at  it.     We  were  even  told  that  the  royal  troops 
of  the  garrison  were  ordered  in  vain  to  get  under  arms. 
As  soon  as  we  were  sufficiently  dressed,  the  officers  told 
us  that  in  obedience  to  a  police  order,  signed  with  the 
name   of  Prince  Wittgenstein,   which  they    showed    us, 
they  were  to  take  possession  of  all  our  papers,  on  grave 
suspicion    of  participation   in,  or  knowledge    of,    secret 
societies.     Although  this  treatment  seemed  to  us  in  all 
respects    injurious ;    although,   after   the    order    of    the 
honourable    council    of  Jan.   11^    we    knew    nothing    of 
the    existence  of  a  ministry  of  police,  far  less   that    it 
possessed    competent    authority   for  such  a  proceeding, 
yet  helpless  men,  attacked  in  their  own  dwellings,  must 
yield   to  armed   force.     They  then  searched  the  whole 
house  unsparingly,  and  every  place  where  the  husband 
and    wife,  or  any   of  the  family,   kept    anything,    even 
carrying  away  a  number  of  scientific  books  on  account 
of  some  marginal  notes;  even  the  ladies'  papers  out  of 
their  secretaires,  those  belonging  to  Professor  Welcker's 
wife   and  sister-in-law,  and  in  spite  of  her    opposition, 
of  his  mother-in-law,  Frau  Wiedemann,  of  Kiel,  while 
the  letters  of  Professor  Arndt's  wife,  who  had  scarcely 
recovered  from  the  birth  of  a  child,  were  taken  out  of  her 
writing-desk,  and  read  through,  partly  in  her  presence." 


380  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  18 19. 


Hardenberg  answered  Arndt's  complaints  by  assuring 
him  that  his  papers  had  been  seized,  not  on  account  of 
any  suspicion  having  fallen  on  him  personally,  but  only 
in  the  search  for  evidence  concerning  the  present 
popular  conspiracies. 

Arndt,  later,  referring  to  this  visit  of  the  police,  says 
that  "  among  the  torn  sheets  and  waste  paper  which  they 
turned  out  of  my  library,  and  out  of  my  pockets,  boxes, 
chests,  and  secret  places,  they  found  an  old  torn  pair  of 
trousers  and  some  ragged  dirty  pieces  of  old  shirts  and 
ties,  which  had  been  used  some  weeks  before  on  a  little 
journey  to  wrap  up  some  boots  and  shoes.  The}' 
packed  up  these  old  rags,  although  I  represented  that 
their  instructions  only  gave  them  the  right  to  touch 
writings  and  papers.  They  seemed  to  place  importance 
upon  them,  as  if  I  was  suspected  of  murder  or  theft  or 
other  such  crimes.  One  of  my  colleagues  who  was 
present,  and  acted  as  witness  to  the  inventory  of  my 
sequestered  property,  suggested  that  these  rags  as 
embryos  of  books  might  become  dangerous  some  day ! 
To  be  short,  these  old  rags  were  sent  round  from  com- 
mission to  commission,  and  as  Herr  Dambach  told  me, 
were  obliged  because  they  were  so  dirty  to  be  regularly 
washed,  until  at  last  they  were  sent  back  to  me  with 
some  old  scraps  of  printed  paper." 

Reimer's  papers  were  seized  at  the  same  time,  and  an 
order  was  issued  to  arrest  the  well-known  journalist 
Gorres,  of  the  RJieinische  Merkiir,  and  convey  him  to 
the  fortress  of  Spandau  ;  but  having  warning  in  time,  he 
succeeded  in  escaping  to  France.  Arndt's  brother-in- 
law,  Schleiermacher,  also  fell  under  suspicion,  partly  on 


JET.  49.]  Panic  in  the  Government.  381 

account  of  some  of  his  letters  which  were  found  among 
Arndt's  and  Reimer's  papers.  The  secret  pohce  kept  a 
close  watch  over  him,  and  permission  was  refused  him 
to  leave  the  city  for  a  few  weeks'  visit  to  the  country. 

The  search  after  conspirators  was  carried  on  vigorously 
throughout  the  countr}^,  and  arrests  on  the  charge  of 
treason  were  numerous.  Kamptz  announced  that  he 
had  discovered  an  important  conspiracy  among  the 
Tertianers,  (equal  to  fourth-form  boys)  !  A  commission 
was  appointed  by  the  Cabinet  to  investigate  the  whole 
matter,  and  to  examine  the  papers  that  had  been  seized. 
Welcker  says  that  he  heard  afterwards  that  their  report 
was  favourable  to  the  professors,  but  it  was  not  approved, 
and  a  new  "  Immediate  Commission  "  was  appointed  to 
revise  it.  Repeated  promises  were  given  that  the  matter 
should  be  speedily  decided,  but  the  year  18 19  passed 
away  ;  1820  came  and  went,  and  no  decision  had  been 
arrived  at.  The  "  Immediate  Commission "  stated  in 
March,  1820,  that  so  far,  no  information  had  come  before 
them  which  would  induce  them  to  institute  criminal  pro- 
ceedings. The  professors  had  been  allowed  during  this 
time  to  continue  lecturing,  but  on  November  10,  1820, 
Arndt  was  silenced,  and  in  the  Calendar  of  the  University, 
in  the  announcement  of  the  lectures  to  be  delivered  in 
the  next  year,  we  read,  "  Professor  Arndt  will  announce 
the  continuation  of  his  lectures  at  the  proper  time." 
During  this  year  of  anxious  waiting  and  delay  several 
articles  were  published  in  the  Allgemeine  Preussische 
Staatszeitung,  which  caused  Arndt  much  vexation. 
They  were  written  to  prove  the  existence  of  a  wide- 
spread socialist  conspiracy,  and  to  show  the  dangerous- 


382  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1819, 

character  of  this  band  of  "  corrupters  of  youth,  poisonous 
revolutionists  and  traitors,"  they  pubHshed  a  large 
number  of  extracts  from  books,  speeches,  and  private 
letters.  Many  of  them  were  sentences  entirely  detached 
from  their  context.  Among  "  a  medley  of  the  maddest 
suggestions  and  appeals  "  came  quotations  from  Arndt's 
writings,  taken  without  any  regard  to  the  general  drift 
of  the  passage.  For  instance,  among  a  number  of 
extracts  selected  to  prove  that  "  the  wretches  were  ready 
to  carry  out  their  intentions  by  murder  and  violence," 
came  some  verses  out  of  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Spirit  of 
the  Age,"  written  in  1805,  calling  upon  the  German 
nation  to  use  their  swords  against  the  French.  And 
more  curious  still,  two  sentences  to  the  following  san- 
guinary effect :  "  A  couple  of  executions,  and  the  whole 
affair  is  at  an  end  ;"  and  "  if  a  preacher  is  shot,  the  affair 
is  at  an  end,"  the  origin  of  which  was  as  follows  :  It 
happened  that  a  paper  of  Clausewitz's,  written  in  18 10 
or  181 1,  containing  a  plan  for  a  rising  of  the  people  to 
throw  off  the  French  yoke,  had  fallen  into  Arndt's  hands. 
There  were  some  notes  on  the  margin,  and  being  told 
that  they  had  been  made  by  the  King,  to  whom  it  had 
been  sent,  he  took  the  pains  to  copy  them.  The  King's 
remarks  referred  to  the  summary  measures  by  which  the 
French  would  crush  such  an  effort,  and  it  was  b}-  two  of 
these  observations  coming  from  his  Majesty  himself  that 
Arndt  was  proved  to  be  a  rogue  determined  on  treason 
and  murder.  Arndt  felt  this  attack  bitterly,  and  com- 
plained of  it  to  Prince  Hardenberg.  The  Chancellor, 
however,  only  assured  him  that  the  articles,  though  they 
had  appeared  in  an  official  paper,  were  not  themselves 


iET.  49-]  Allgeiueine  Staatsaeitiiug.  3S3 

official.  This  answer  did  not  satisfy  Arndt.  He  com- 
plained that  every  one  had  thought  them  official,  and  he 
did  not  see  how  they  could  think  otherwise,  as  they  were 
called  "Actenauszlige,"  ("extracts  from  the  documents  ") 
relating  to  the  trial,  and  could  not  possibly  have  ap- 
peared without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the 
authorities,  being  extracted  from  papers  which  all  the 
world  knew  were  in  the  hands  of  the  ministerial  com- 
mission. Welcker  says  that  so  little  care  was  taken  to 
keep  the  sequestrated  papers  private,  that  clerks  and 
copyists  were  heard  in  inns  quoting  in  jest  sentences 
out  of  Arndt's  private  correspondence.  To  these  com- 
plaints Hardenberg  only  replied  by  stating  that  the 
whole  matter  had  passed  entirely  out  of  his  hands. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

TRIAL. 

Suspension. — Carlsbad  Resolutions. — Court  at  Mainz. — Examination. 

The  year  and  a  half  before  his  trial  began  must  have 
been  a  hard  time  to  Arndt,  and  there  is  a  touch  of  sad- 
ness in  his  letters  at  this  time : 

"  We  are  all,  thank  God,  very  well,"  he  writes,  "  and  the  small- 
est in  the  nest,  who  yesterday  completed  his  eleventh  month,  is 
prospering  excellently  well,  and  wanders  about  already  on  his 
own  feet,  with  the  help  of  tables  and  chairs.  But  man  needs 
another  kind  of  health,  and  much  is  included  in  the  daily  bread 
of  a  healthy  human  life  and  in  the  contents  of  the  Fourth  Petition; 

and  that  indeed  is  not  so  well It  is  hard  to  give  up 

faith  and  hope,  and  I  cannot  do  it ;  but  only  truth  and  justice 
bring  prosperity,  and  we,  who  have  lived  through  such  hard 
times,  ought  perhaps  to  prepare  ourselves  for  still  harder.  But 
the  saddest  part  of  it  is,  that  the  old  animosity  between  ranks 
and  classes  is  being  sharpened  again,  and  they  are  becoming 
embittered  towards  one  another.  Against  this  one  must  arm 
oneself  and  pray :  Lord,  preserve  me  from  that  worst  thing, 
hatred." 

And  again,  on  October  9,  1820  : 

.  "  Our  little  house  and  garden  on  the  Rhine  is  now  almost 
finished.   AVe  have  been  living  in  it,  indeed,  for  a  year  already, 


^T.  50.]  •  Snspcjision. 


50:) 


but  there  were  all  kinds  of  work  to  be  done  to  it  afterwards  ; 
and  the  orchard  too  is  now  beginning  to  get  into  order.  The 
order  in  the  house  is  good,  and  I  may  well  praise  my  wife  for 
her  goodness  and  courage,  and  the  little  boy  also,  whom  God 
has  given,  who  is  one  of  the  finest,  quickest,  most  lively,  and 
fiery  of  children.  As  for  order  outside,  in  the  great  com- 
munity of  God  and  the  people,  it  will  surely  become  what  the 
good  and  upright  hope  and  wish.  That  for  which  alone  I  have 
wished  and  worked  unselfishly  and  fearlessly,  and  as  I  believe, 
well,  according  to  my  small  power,  w'ill  surely  make  its  way  by 
the  efforts,  wishes,  and  prayers  of  many,  and  then  both  the 
palaces  of  kings  and  the  homes  of  the  middle  and  lower 
classes  will  become  quieter  and  happier.  I  know  in  my  inmost 
heart  that  I  have  sowed  no  devil's  seed,  for  I  have  never 
wished  for  rebellion,  and  least  of  all  have  I  practised,  or  ap- 
proved the  practice  of,  underhand  lying  or  treachery,  as  lying 
enemies  have  laid  to  my  charge.  That  a  man  should  be  dis- 
composed by  such  a  conflict  is  indeed  unavoidable.  So  far 
however,  my  health  and,  for  the  most  part,  my  cheerfulness 
remain  tolerable." 


When  it  was  at  last  decided  to  proceed  against  him, 
id  tc 
wrote 


and  to  bring  him  to  trial  on  the  charge  of  treason,  he 


"Bonn,  November  ii,  1S20. 
"  Soon  after  my  son's  arrival  came  something  unpleasant  for 
me,  not  indeed  endangering  my  neck,  and  if  it  were,  I  hope  it 
would  not  break  my  heart.  Yesterday  I  received  notice  that  I 
am  suspended  from  my  office,  and  am  to  be  subjected  to  a 
special  investigation.  I  know  well  whence  this  comes, 
and  why.  It  has  not  much  surprised  me,  for  I  have  long 
been  prepared  for  something  of  the  kind.  Commg  doion  has 
never  seemed  so  hard  to  me  as  to  some  people,  even  if  it  be 
to  a  smock-frock.  We  must  all  go  lower  still  soon,  where  all 
earthly  pomp,  however  lowly,  will  be  stripped  off  us ;  and,  who- 
ever cannot  fly  upwards,  must  creep,  even  if  he  wears  the 
crown." 

25 


386  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1820. 


"December  21,  1820. 

"God,  who  is  much  more  gracious  than  I  deserve,  has 
granted  me  some  very  good  days  in  the  midst  of  the  pressure  of 
the  last  four  weeks — days  which  I  cannot  describe  but  as  days  of 
love  and  joy.  All  that  I  have  worked  at  has  become  easy,  and 
my  life  is  bright  with  courage  and  light,  and  this  evening  es- 
pecially cheerful.  I  could  fall  down  and  adore  with  tears  the 
measureless  love  which  has  ever  helped  me  in  the  worst  times. 
In  this  state  of  mind  I  feel  the  spiritual  communion  of  many 
pious,  faithful  souls,  who  are  sympathising  with,  and  praying  for 
old  Arndt. 

"  You  must  know  too,  dear  friend,  that  I  shall  soon  be  fifty- 
one  years  old,  and  with  this  weight  of  years  I  find  myself  so 
well,  that  it  sometimes  seems  to  me  as  if  there  might  be  thirty 
or  forty  years  more  for  me  in  this  land  of  conflict,  called 
earth.  Well,  as  God  will,  without  whose  will  no  sparrow  flies 
upward." 

So,  with  full  confidence  in  the  Divine  support,  he 
went  courageously  through  this  time  of  great  trouble. 

"  To  man  an  eagle,  to  God  a  worm, 
So  in  the  life-storm  stand'st  thou  firm  ; 
He  who  feels  weak  in  his  Maker's  sight, 
Alone  among  men  hath  undoubted  might." 

The  trial  so  long  impending  began  at  last ;  but  neither 
before  the  judges  nor  at  the  place  which  to  the  accused 
seemed  just  and  right.  In  the  autumn  of  18 19,  when 
the  panic  was  at  its  height,  a  meeting  of  ministers  from 
the  several  German  States  assembled  at  Carlsbad  under 
the  presidency  of  Metternich,  and  passed  the  famous 
Carlsbad  Resolutions,  of  which  the  substance  was  that  the 
censors  should  be  ordered  to  be  more  strict  and  vigilant  ; 
that  the  universities  should  no  longer  be  allowed  to 
govern  themselves,  but  should  be  subjected  to  officials 


^T.  50.]  Carlsbad  Resohttions.  387 

appointed  by  the  Government,  who  should  immediately 
dissolve  the  Burschenschaft  ;  and  that  a  Central  Com- 
mission should  meet  at  Mainz  to  prosecute  inquiries  in 
all  parts  of  Germany  concerning  the  socialistic  intrigues, 
with  power  to  arrest  all  suspected  persons,  and  punish- 
all  whom  they  might  find  guilty.  Much  indignation  was 
excited  throughout  Germany  by  this  proceeding.  The 
principal  members  of  the  courts  of  justice  at  Berlin  pro- 
tested, declaring  the  court  illegal,  and  complaining  that 
the  King,  by  sending  his  subjects  to  be  tried  in  this 
foreign  court,  was  renouncing  his  most  sacred  right — the 
right  of  pardoning.  A  large  party  in  the  Prussian 
Cabinet  also  was  opposed  to  the  Resolutions.  Wilhelm 
von  Humboldt  expressed  it  as  his  opinion  that  they 
were  shameful,  and  that  the  Prussian  minister  at  Carls- 
bad, Bernstorfif,  had  exceeded  his  powers  in  signing 
them  ;  but  the  party  for  repression  was  too  strong  for 
them,  and  Humboldt  and  General  Boyen,  and  those  who 
felt  with  them,  were  obliged  to  resign,  and  from  that 
time  Prussia  was  foremost  in  the  search  for  conspirators, 
and  in  the  endeavour  to  suppress  the  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence in  the  people. 

The  court  (Bundescentraluntersuchungscommission) 
met  on  October  15th,  1820,  and  Arndt  and  the  two 
Welckers  were  summoned  before  it.  Arndt  protested 
vehemently  against  the  injustice.  We  will  give  his  own 
account : 

"  I  certainly  do  not  belong  to  those  wlio  readily  turn  pale  at  a 
danger,  but  a  shudder  comes  over  me  when  I  think  of  the  con- 
tinuous injuries,  slanders,  and  persecutions  of  three  years,  and 
of  the  summer  of  182 1  and  its  examination.     At  the  beginning 

2  c 2 


388  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821. 

of  the  affair  I  was  put  outside  the  pale  of  all  law  and  justice  ; 
they  took  away  my  privileges  and  my  rightful  court  of  justice, 
and  subjected  me  to  police  commissions,  and  ministerial  com- 
missions, and  other  extraordinary  things.  Then  came  the  sus- 
pension from  my  office,  and  three  months  later  the  summons 
before  an  Extraordinary  Special  Commission  of  Inquiry,  which  I 
had  many  reasons  to  believe  was  arranged  and  guided  in  great 
part  by  my  enemies  and  accusers.  My  refusal  to  submit  to  this 
illegally-formed  tribunal, — which  appeared  to  me  to  be  founded 
on  principles  which  Englishmen  condemn  as  '  high-commission 
principles,  high-government  principles;' and  Germans,  and  even 
Prussia's  most  glorious  leader,  under  the  title  of  '  cabinet 
justice,' — was  slighted,  and  my  appeal  to  be  tried  by  an  ordinary 
court  of  justice  was  refused,  and  I  at  last  was  compelled,  by 
threats  of  bonds  and  imprisonment,  to  submit  to  a  power  which 
took  away  from  me  every  legal  right.  Then,  when  the  examina- 
tion began,  injustice  of  every  kind,  which  seemed  to  me  to  ex- 
ceed the  tortures  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  mortifications  and 
vexations  about  trivial  nothings,  about  feelings  and  thoughts, 
about  theories  and  opinions." 

The  investigation  of  Arndt's  case  was  entrusted  to  a 
member  of  a  provincial  court  named  Pape,  assisted  by  a 
referendary  of  the  name  of  Dambach.     Arndt  says  : 

"  It  was  very  hard  for  a  professor  to  have  to  be  questioned 
by  a  man  who,  during  the  examination,  frequently  had  to  make 
excursions  in  fields  where  he  had  never  gathered  a  single  ear. 
One  example  out  of  hundreds  and  thousands.  In  one  of  the 
letters  came  the  words,  '  that  is  out  of  my  sphere.'  Pape  (to 
Dambach)  :  '  Sphere  ?  what  is  sphere  ?'  Dambach  :  '  I  think 
sphere  is  the  Greek  for  ball.'  Pape  :  '  Ball  ?  out  of  my  ball. 
What  does  that  mean  ?'  Then  followed  discussions  and  philo- 
logical and  etymological  interpretations,  ending  at  last  in  an 
approach  to  the  real  meaning  of  such  a  magical  formula,  in  all 
of  which  I  helped  in  my  way.     During  the  first  weeks  I  often 


MT.  SI.]  Trm/.  389 

lost  my  temper  ;  but  afterwards  I  remembered  a  saying  of 
Count  Gessler's  that  '  a  reasonable  being  should  never  be  pro- 
voked.' And  really  afterwards  I  tried  as  much  as  possible  to 
make  a  joke  of  it,  and  submitted  like  a  patient  sheep  to  the 
wearisome  torture ;  but  it  continued  to  be  none  the  less  a 
fearful  irritation  and  mortification  of  spirit.  At  times,  indeed, 
we  had  many  a  hearty  laugh  together,  particularly  over  the  philo- 
logical and  etymological  part  of  this  criminal  inquiry,  and  I 
have  even  taken  a  glass  of  wine  and  *  butterbrod '  in  good 
fellowship  with  Herr  Pape." 

The  charges  brought  against  him  were  :  secret  con- 
spiracy, corrupting  youth,  and  planning  to  form  a  repub- 
lic and  "  restore  the  Fatherland."  As  has  been  mentioned 
before,  one  of  the  chapters  in  the  fourth  part  of  the 
"  Soirit  of  the  Are  "  was  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
secret  societies.  His  condemnation  of  them  was  entire 
and  emphatic.  He  begins  by  asking  "  whether  a  Chris- 
tian state  should  tolerate  secret  societies  within  it  ?"  to 
which  he  answers  "  No."  And  again,  "  Is  there  no  case 
when  secret  societies  or  orders  may  be  allowed  ?  I  can 
think  of  none." 

In  his  "Recollections"  he  abstains  from  giving  any 
detailed  account  of  his  trial,  as  at  the  time  the  book  was 
written  he  was  still  suspended  from  his  professorship, 
but  he  dwells  at  some  length  on  the  charges  made 
against  him.  In  defending  himself  from  the  charge  of 
secret  conspiracy,  he  says  : 

"  Even  from  my  youth,  when  unfledged  creatures  are  so  easily 
attracted  by  empty  conceits  and  glitter,  I  never  took  pleasure  in 
secrets  or  secret  societies,  and  in  my  maturer  years  I  havekeptaway 
from  them  from  principle  and  conviction.  I  have  indeed  belonged 


390  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821. 

to  orders :  first,  when  a  boy,  to  the  order  of  'Coarse  Food  Eaters ;' 
and  secondly,  when  a  student  at  Greifswald,  to  a  society  which 
concerned  itself  only  about  virtue,  and  had  no  other  mysteries 
than  spotless  purity  and  blameless  courage.  It  was  a  society 
of  from  ten  to  twelve  youths,  which  I,  my  brother  Fritz,  the 
poet  Karl  Lappe,  etc,  joined  :  we  called  ourselves  the  Allied 
Brethren,  Fratres  Conjunct!.  This  was  the  end  of  all  my  connec- 
tion with  societies,  and  this  Tugendbund  died  a  natural  death  in  a 
very  short  space  of  time.  From  all  the  Landsmannschafts  and 
other  societies  so  numerous  at  the  universities,  I  kept  myself 
free,  even  running  the  danger  sometimes  of  having  to  fight  for 
my  liberty.  Afterwards,  when  the  Tugendbund,  which  indeed 
had  the  most  noble  patriotic  object,  rose  like  a  formidable 
spectre  in  Germany  before  Napoleon  and  the  French,  the 
honour  was  done  me,  as  well  as  many  other  honest  men,  of 
counting  me  a  member  of  it.  I  remember  once  the  fine  old 
Count  Gessler  looking  at  me  in  a  roguish  way,  and  saying  as  if 
he  wished  to  catch  me ;  '  And  you  are  sitting  here,  and  have 
not  gone  to  Schweidnitz  ?  Stein  set  off  early  :  the  Tugendbund 
is  choosing  a  master  in  the  place  of  the  dead  Scharnhorst.'  So 
far  had  the  idea  spread.  However  I  knew  so  little  of  this 
Tugendbund,  and  troubled  myself  so  little  about  it,  that 
I  never  even  read  the  regulations  which  were  afterwards 
printed." 

And  he  was  able  to  say  after  his  examination,  "  that 
in  about  a  hundred  letters  of  his  which  were  found  in 
the  possession  of  Reimer  and  Schildener,  as  well  as  in 
many  letters  from  most  worthy  men,  nothing  could  be 
discovered  secret,  forbidden,  or  ambiguous,  unless  certain 
passages  were  violently  wrested  out  of  their  connection 
with  time,  place,  and  occasion  ;"  nor  could  they  discover 
"any  close  or  intimate  connection  with  any  one  of  whom 
he  was  ashamed." 

He  was  cross-examined  on  these  letters  with  an  absurd 


>ET.  51.]  Cross-Examhiatioii.  391 

minuteness,  not  merely  on  political  subjects,  but  "  when- 
ever his  judge  did  not  understand  and  could  not  make 
out  anything  in  his  books  or  letters,"  even  in  matters 
which  from  the  vagueness  of  the  expressions,  or  the 
distance  of  time,  he  could  not  himself  explain  ;  for  ex- 
ample, about  greetings  to  friends,  or  messages  about 
packets  and  enclosures  which  were  to  be  taken  care  of, 
in  letters  written  from  ten  to  thirteen  years  before,  he 
was  often  asked  what  particular  friends  were  to  be 
greeted,  and  what  the  packets  or  enclosures  contained. 
In  a  letter  written  by  him  to  Reimer  in  1812,  after  his 
return  home  from  Berlin,  he  had  written,  "  There  is 
so  much  going  in  my  head,  for  which  paper  is  too 
limited  and  too  faithless  .  .  .  God  keep  you  fresh  in 
body  and  courage !"  About  this  he  was  questioned 
again  and  again,  and  when  he  answered  that  there  was 
a  great  deal  going  in  his  head  just  then,  but  what  he 
meant  precisely  he  could  not  remember,  Reimer  was 
asked  whether  he  did  not  know  what  had  been  going 
in  Arndt's  head  in  1812?  Why  had  he  hoped,  too, 
that  God  would  keep  him  fresh  in  body  and  courage  ? 
was  there  some  special  meaning  in  the  word  courage  ? 
etc.,  etc. 

In  his  "  Enforced  Account  of  his  Trial,"  he  gives  a 
great  number  of  such  questions,  about  things  perfectly 
foreign  to  the  subject.  "Among  other  things,  I  was 
asked  how  my  writings  had  excited  the  interest  of  the 
Baron  vom  Stein  ?  Why  the  Baron  von  Greifeneck 
praised  me  so  }  Why  the  worthy  Ebel  of  Zurich  }  Why 
a  Count  Schwerin  and  a  Count  Bandissin  wrote  so  con- 
fidentially to  me  ?    How  General  Count  Gneisenau  came 


5^2  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821. 


to  write  letters  to  me  from  Paris  and  communicate  to 
me  his  opinions  on  the  political  negotiations  ?" 

It  was  treated  as  a  matter  of  suspicion,  that  in  the 
time  when  the  French  were  in  Prussia  he  had  frequently 
adopted  other  names.     "  But,"  he  says  : 

"  I    would   ask     any  reasonable    man  whether,  in  a  time  of 
danger  and  subjugation,  or    of   war,    this   is   not  a  perfectly 
natural  and    innocent    expedient,  common  among  great  and 
small,  not  of  course  when  it  is  used   for    criminal  purposes, 
but   as  a  defence  against   crime    and  violence.     For  I  have 
yet  to  find  the    man   who    would    throw    away    his    life    for 
nothing.     And  with  all  my  German  innocence    and  honesty, 
I  should  have  been  a   pretty  simpleton   if  I   had    thought    I 
could  travel  about  the  country  among  the  French,  or  stay  in 
places  swarming  with  their  spies,  with    my  papers  made  out 
in  the  name  of  E.  M.  Arndt.     So  I  have  borne  many  names 
beginning  with  A  (I  always  kept  to  this  letter),  such  as  All- 
mann,  Amsberg,  and  perhaps  others  which  I  do  not  recollect. 
And   in   time  of   war  I   never    signed  my  real  name  to  any 
letters  going  by  the  post,  if  they  contained  anything  but  the 
most  everyday  matters.     As  eveiy  one  knows  that  under  such 
circumstances  both  friends  and  enemies  open  letters,  and  that 
many  of  them  never  reach  the  right  destination,  but  fall  into 
strange  hands,  every  one  is  careful  not  to  expose  either  him- 
self or    his   friend   and    correspondent    by    anything   which, 
however  innocent  or  indifferent,  might  receive  an   evil  inter- 
pretation. 

"I  travelled  from  Stockholm  back  to  Germany  in  the 
antumn  of  1809,  under  the  name  of  Allmann,  teacher  of 
languages,  and  lived  in  Berlin  during  the  winter  of  18 10 
under  that  name,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  police  papers. 
It  was  safest  for  me  at  that  time.  A  man  who  calls  himself 
professor  always  excites  some  attention  if  he  stays  for  any 
length  of  time  in  one  place,  without  any  definite  object;  but 
a  teacher  of  languages  belongs  more  to  the  wandering  class, 


JET.  51.]  Influence  ivith    Young  Men. 


oVo 


and  therefore  to  the  less  suspicious.  And  I  could  at  least 
make  a  tolerable  show  with  several  modern  languages,  if  I 
came  to  be  tried.  For  the  same  reason  I  called  myself 
Amsberg,  a  teacher  of  languages,  in  the  spring  of  18 12, 
when  in  a  still  more  critical  situation  at  Breslau,  as  is  still 
to  be  found  in  the  police  books." 

From  the  charge  of  having  used  his  influence  over 
young  men  for  evil  purposes,  of  having  endeavoured  to 
stir  up  in  them  a  feeling  against  the  Government,  he 
defends  himself  in  his  "  Recollections." 

"  If  in  those  wild,  stormy  days,  when  everything  seemed  to 
have  overflowed  its  banks,  I  used  wild  and  stormy  language, 
such  as  does  not  suit  ordinary  and  quiet  times  of  peace,  it  was 
addressed  to  men  and  not  to  beardless  boys,  and  with  the 
object  of  shaking  and  breaking  down  a  foreign  tyranny.  When 
young  men  came  within  my  circle,  I  always  pointed  out  to  them 
their  proper  boundaries  of  waiting  and  hoping,  and  directed 
them  to  the  future  when  the  beard  of  their  strength  and  under- 
standing would  have  grown." 

He  proceeds  to  quote  from  a  little  book  on  "  Educa- 
tion" he  had  written  many  years  before,  his  opinions 
on  the  subject  not  having  changed. 

"Besides,  I  do  not  wish  that  young  men  should  be  poli- 
ticians. ...  It  is  good  to  love  one's  country,  and  work  for  it, 
but  it  is  better,  infinitely  better,  to  be  a  man,  and  to  esteem 
things  human  above  the  things  of  one's  country.  The  noblest 
citizen  may  be  the  noblest  and  most  large-minded  man,  and  for 
this  to  be  so,  no  one  should  be  made  a  citizen  before  he  is  a 


man." 


Passages  from  one  of  the  lectures  delivered   at  the 
University  of  Bonn  in  the  summer  of  1S19,  were  cited  in 


394  ^if^  '^f  ^T^idt.  [a.d.  1821. 

proof  of  this  charge.  It  was  an  introductory  lecture  "  On 
Life  and  Study,"  and  Herr  Pape  objected  that  it  was 
neither  philosophical  nor  historical,  but  that  it  was  evident 
that  he  was  trying  in  it  to  excite  a  feeling  of  discontent  and 
dissatisfaction  with  the  present  time,  which  might  have 
an  influence  on  their  future  life.  To  this  he  answered  : 
"  It  was  not  my  fault  if  people  felt  uncomfortable  after 
this  lecture.  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  represent  in 
all  their  strictness,  and  with  all  the  force  of  stern  reality, 
the  demands  of  morality  and  the  greatness  of  the  contest 
both  in  study  and  in  life.  Such  a  discontent  and  dis- 
satisfaction might  very  naturally  arise,  and  it  had  been 
my  intention  that  they  should  arise,  as  I  wished  to  lash 
the  frivolity  and  vanity  natural  to  youth,  and  to  show- 
that  there  is  no  virtue  without  modesty  and  discipline. 
There  would  have  been  no  need  for  any  questions  at 
all  about  this  paper,  the  answers  to  all  the  disputed 
passages  being  contained  in  it,  if  Herr  Pape  had  not 
broken  off  in  the  middle  of  the  passage,  but  had  con- 
tinued with  the  words  immediately  following,  which 
explain  the  object  of  the  whole  lecture  :  And  if  your 
eyes  are  strong  enough  to  gaze  steadily  at  this  naked 
truth  and  this  severe  virtue,  then  you  will  discern  also 
the  merciful  God  of  love,  who  is  ready  to  reconcile  all 
disagreements,  either  in  you  or  in  the  times.  You  will 
find  peace  and  consolation  in  your  breast,  and  will 
remain  undisturbed  by  the  quarrels  and  confusion  in 
which  life  and  society,  science  and  art,  are  involved. 
And  that  will  be  a  reward  for  my  trouble,  as  it  is  the 
object  of  it." 

Besides  the  lecture,  he  was  cross-examined  about  his 


JET.  51.]  Infljience  luith   Young  Men.  395 

correspondence  with  two  young  men,  over  whom  it  was 
stated  he  had  exerted  an  injurious  influence.  One  of 
these,  an  officer  in  the  King's  body-guard,  was  an  enthu- 
siastic youth,  who  "  followed  both  the  good  and  the  foolish 
fashions  of  the  day  with  an  innocent  but  not  always 
prudent  zeal."  He  had  free  access  to  the  King,  and 
used  to  write  him  long  letters  couched  in  Biblical 
language,  beginning  "  Dear  father,"  and  subscribed 
"  Your  loving  son."  His  correspondence  with  Arndt 
was  of  the  same  mystical  character,  and  the  complaint 
was  that  Arndt  had  not  written  him  in  answer  "  a  rough 
letter."  He  had  enclosed  in  his  letter  a  long  hymn  for 
Arndt's  son,  and  in  reply  Arndt  sent  him  some  verses 
of  his  own.  The  hymn  contained  some  lines  about  put- 
ting an  end  to  the  slavery  of  sin,  and  the  expression, 
"  the  blood  of  the  new  covenant"  ("des  neuen  Bundes  ") 
incidentally  occurred.  Herr  Pape,  wrongly  supposing 
that  the  hymn  was  written  by  the  young  man,  began 
questioning  closely,  supposing  there  was  some  dark  and 
sinister  meaning  ;  but,  Arndt  says,  "  when  I  said  the 
poem  must  have  been  taken  out  of  some  published  book 
of  hymns  (I  found  it  afterwards  in  Porst's  collection),  as  it 
evidently  referred  to  a  heavenly  rule,  and  to  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  soul  from  the  tyranny  of  sin,  he  forebore  to 
question  further." 

Defending  himself  against  the  further  charge  of  wishing 
to  form  a  republic,  and  to  "restore  the  Fatherland," 
Arndt  says  that  in  the  dark  years  1805,  1806,  and  1809, 
most  people  had  dreams  for  the  future.  "  I  also  have 
had  mine,  making  the  dark  reality  bright  with  the 
visions  of  hope  ;  but  I  do  not  think  that  they  belonged  to 


296  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821. 

the  most  foolish  and  romantic — bloodthirsty  and  destruc- 
tive, as  those  of  the  later  associations  of  youths  have 
been  charged  with  being,  they  were  not.  But  I  have 
preached  the  dangerous  doctrine  of  German  unity.  In 
this  I  was  only  a  poor  imitator,  following  so  many 
famous  teachers  ;  I  think  the  doctrine  is  as  old  as  the 
history  of  the  race.  The  divisions  between  our  various 
rulers  and  governments  have  almost  always  made  it 
necessary  to  preach  it.  And  is  it  less  necessary  now  ? 
....  I  had  from  my  childhood  so  accustomed  myself 
to  a  kingdom  and  to  monarchy  (by  my  historical  reading, 
I  think,  as  well  as  by  the  political  creed  and  feelings  of 
my  family)  that  I  could  scarcely  be  just  to  the  best  re- 
public in  its  best  time,  and  always  in  my  early  youth 
took  part  with  the  English  against  the  Americans,  and 
with  the  kings  and  princes  against  the  French  republic. 
Later,  when  I  learnt  to  think  about  the  world  and  its 
institutions,  this  was  my  decision  :  that  a  great  free  state 
is  a  chimera,  and  that,  passing  through  one  revolution  to 
another,  it  soon  falls  into  the  hands  of  a  fortunate  and 
crafty  bird-catcher,  who  treats  it  as  Caesar  did  Rome,  or 
Napoleon,  France  ;  that  little  republics  between  great 
monarchies  can  seldom  keep  themselves  independent 
now  ;  but  that  a  well-ordered  kingdom,  where  law  is 
honoured,  and  the  reigning  dynasty  respected,  offers  all 
the  possible  advantages  of  a  free  state,  and  passes  hap- 
pily and  safely  through  all  convulsions  and  dangers, 
either  from  one  pre-eminent  individual  or  from  wild 
factions." 

He  underwent,  also,  a  close  examination  on  the  greater 
number  of  his  political  writings,  although,  as  he  explains, 


^T.  51.]  His  Political   Writings.  397 

seventeen  of  them  fall  between  the  years  1805  and  181 5, 
and  were  written  and  published  under  the  protection  of 
the  Swedish  or  Russian  Government,  or  the  Central 
Board  of  Administration  of  the  Allied  Powers.  Of  the 
remaining  five  he  says,  "If  it  were  right,  which  in  my 
opinion  it  is  not,  that  I  should  be  called  upon  by  the 
Prussian  State  to  answer  for  what  I  wrote  in  the  year 
181 5,  when  I  was  not  a  Prussian  subject,  yet  for  the  three 
first  of  these  books,  and  for  the  first  and  second  volumes  of 
the  Watchman,  I  have  the  sacred  protection  of  the  royal 
word,  which  no  court  of  justice  is  competent  to  alter. 
For  when,  in  the  middle  of  November,  181 5,  I,  with  my 
fatherland  the  Island  of  Riigen,  was  incorporated  in  the 
Prussian  kingdom,  and  became  a  Prussian  subject,  the 
amnesty  for  all  political  offences  pronounced  at  the 
shifting  of  provinces  between  Sweden,  Denmark,  and 
Prussia,  covered  all  the  offences  in  these  books,  if  there 
were  any.  There  remain,  then,  the  third  part  of  the 
Watchman  and  the  fourth  part  of  the  '  Spirit  of  the 
Age.'  About  these  two  books  I  would  remark,  ist,  In 
the  third  part  of  the  Watchman  nothing  was  found  at 
the  examination  which  could  be  pointed  out  as  sus- 
picious, not  to  say  criminal.  And,  2nd,  that  for  the 
fourth  part  of  the  '  Spirit  of  the  Age  '  I  had  already 
received  my  due  in  a  royal  reprimand  of  the  winter  of 
1819  ;  and  I  reckon  it  impossible  that  I  could  be  again 
called  to  account  for  this  book  by  any  Prussian  court  of 
justice." 

He  had  other  serious  causes  of  complaint  in  the  way 
in  which  the  trial  was  conducted.  In  the  spring  of  1821 
he  published  a  pamphlet  called  "  Some  Words  on   my 


398  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821. 

Case  forced  from  me  "  ("  Abgenothigtes  Wort  aus  meiner 
Sache")  which  Herr  Pape  refused  to  allow  to  be  sold 
in  Bonn.  And  again,  when  he  came  to  the  defence,  the 
Ministerial  Commission  in  Berlin  refused  repeatedly  to 
allow  him  to  see  some  of  his  letters,  which  had  been 
found  among  Reimer's  papers.  Among  the  legal  docu- 
ments themselves,  often  a  third,  sometimes  half  of  them, 
were  covered  up  as  secrets  which  he  was  not  to  see,  and 
which  were  concealed  even  from  his  counsel.  He  also 
found  great  difficulty  in  selecting  a  counsel  whom  Herr 
Pape  would  accept.  Welcker  says  that  he  was  refused 
three,  one  after  another,  upon  no  legal  ground  known  to 
him. 

The  course  of  justice  at  Mainz  proved  no  more  rapid 
than  at  Berlin.  His  own  examination  was  prolonged 
over  several  months,  and  it  was  not  till  June,  1822,  that 
he  could  write,  "  My  case  is  approaching  its  conclusion." 
He  could  feel  satisfied  that  he  had  refuted  the  worst 
charges  against  him,  and  that  it  was  impossible  to  con- 
demn him  except  for  conduct,  which,  though  now  held 
reprehensible,  had  been  considered  meritorious  and 
honourable  by  the  best  of  the  people  —  by  Baron 
vom  Stein,  and  even  by  the  Chancellor  Hardenberg 
himself,  who  had  rewarded  it  by  bestowing  on  him  the 
Professorship  at  Bonn.  But  as  the  time  drew  near, 
when  he  was  hoping  that  his  character  would  be  cleared 
from  the  stains  cast  upon  it,  a  rumour  reached  him, 
which  seemed  to  him  quite  incredible,  that  no  decision 
would  be  pronounced  at  all.  It  drew  from  him  two  in- 
dignant letters  ;  one  to  Hardenberg,  who  had  repeatedly 


^x.  51.]  No  Decision  Pronounced.  399 

promised  that  he  would  see  that  justice  was  done  him, 
and  the  other  to  Altenstein. 

He  complained  that  every  means  had  been  taken  to 
represent  him  to  the  King  and  to  his  fellow-subjects  as  an 
abominable  rogue  and  infamous  conspirator ;  and  he 
adds,  "  I  know,  unfortunately  too  well,  that  they  have 
attained  their  object  ;  they  have  excited  the  King's 
anger.  And  if  these  black,  hideous  charges  against  me 
are  not  cleared  away,  how  should  the  King  sufifer  that  a 
man  who  confesses  such  abominable  things — so  he  has 
been  made  to  believe — should  remain  at  his  post,  or  even 
in  the  country  ?  Indeed,  I  must  admire  his  Majesty's 
sense  of  justice  and  forbearance,  that  he  did  not,  upon 
receipt  of  documents  which  he  cannot  but  consider 
genuine,  proceed  to  violent  measures  against  a  man 
who,  if  they  were  true,  would  have  been  thrown  into 
chains  immediately  by  many  kings,  or  made  to  SAving 
high,  and  indeed  not  unjustly." 

To  Altenstein  he  writes :  "  I  have  suffered  persecution 
and  losses  of  the  most  unjust  and  cruel  kind,  which  no 
mortal  power  can  make  good  to  me  ;  the  heaviest  loss 
of  all,  the  loss  of  time.  Three  years  have,  as  it  were, 
been  struck  out  of  my  life  :  for  three  years  I  have  been 
able  to  do  and  think  of  nothing  but  in  this  case,  or  for 
this  case.  It  is  as  if  during  this  time  I  had  been  in 
chains  in  a  prison,  without  any  means  of  continuing  my 
studies  ;  and  indeed  I  should  have  been  there  for  a  year 
and  a  half,  if  I  had  not  yielded  to  the  threats  of 
violence  in  the  winter  of  1821.  And  now,  after  such  a 
long  time  of  torment,  and  after  such  an  examination  as 
I  have  had  to  sufifer,  they  threaten  at  the  conclusion  to 


400  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821. 

break  off  abruptl}',  and  leave  the  judgment  unpro- 
nounced  ;  thus  denying  me  the  only  restitution  which 
seems  to  me  possible." 

Hardenberg  again  assured  him  that  when  his  case 
was  finished,  he  would  do  everything  possible  for  him, 
but  that  time  never  came.  "What  had  begun  as  a 
criminal  trial,  ended  in  the  form  of  a  police  investiga- 
tion." No  decision  was  ever  arrived  at,  and  Arndt  was 
never  pronounced  either  "  guilty  "  or  "  not  guilty."  But 
he  remained  silenced  for  twenty  years,  and  his  repeated 
entreaties  that  his  papers  might  be  restored  to  him  were 
refused. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

DURING   HIS    SUSPENSION. 

Home  Life. — Intercession  of  Stein. — "  The  Question  of  the  Netherlands." 
— Death  of  Stein  and  Niebuhr. — Death  ofWihbald. — "Recollections." — 
Restoration. 

Through  the  influence  probably  of  Eichhorn,  Niebuhr, 
and  perhaps  some  other  of  his  friends,  Arndt,  though 
thus  set  aside  from  active  service,  was  allowed  to  remain 
in  his  little  home  on  the  Rhine,  and  to  retain  his  full 
salary. 

"  In  this  tiiiie  of  heavy  trial,"  he  writes,  "  humiliating  to 
human  pride,  I  have  learnt  to  know  God  and  my  friends,  and 
this  has  been  a  great  joy  in  my  sorrow.  There  have  been  some 
who,  declaring  me  to  be  a  dangerous  man  in  these  parts,  would 
gladly  have  sent  me  into  exile  and  misery.  And  I  have  to 
thank  the  justice  and  mercy  of  my  King  for  allowing  me  to 
remain  in  my  little  garden  on  the  Rhine." 

And  then,  looking  back  over  the  whole  period  of  his 
disgrace,  he  writes  : 

"  My  stubborn,  rugged  nature  has  had  to  learn,  through  much 
humiliation,  that  I  too  must  tread  the  path  of  suffering  for  the 
sake  of  my  country,  and  that  there  were  wounds  for  me  too, 
though  I  had  never  fought  among  the  swords  and  bullets  of  the 
battle-field.     When  I  had  collected  and  composed  myself  a 

26 


402  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821—40. 

little  after  the  first  bitterness,  I  received  my  lot  as  coming  from 
the  hand  of  a  just  and  righteous  God,  as  due  payment  for  many 
presumptuous  and  arrogant  words,  and  this  has  preserved 
me,  and  I  thank  God  for  it,  from  that  bitterness  and  gloom  to 
which  most  men,  in  such  circumstances,  yield. 

"  During  the  examination,  indeed,  and  the  time  which  fol- 
lowed it,  according  to  the  judgment  of  my  friends,  I  behaved 
with  tolerable  equanimity  and  composure.  Nevertheless,  I  felt 
in  my  inmost  being  the  slow  irritation  and  wearing  away  of  my 
best  powers.  While  a  tower  is  standing,  no  one  notices  how 
storms,  rain,  and  snow  have  gradually  loosened  the  stones  and 
mortar.  But  the  worst  of  it  was  that  I  passed  many  good 
years  which  I  ought  to  have  employed  better  and  more  use- 
fully, in  a  kind  of  misty,  idle  dream  among  children,  trees,  and 
flowers.  I  see  it  now,  and  repent  it ;  but  it  is  too  late.  That 
time,  and  my  time,  is  gone  and  lost.  I  am  indeed  a  dreamer  by 
nature,  a  loiterer  and  trifler,  save  when  some  definite  object, 
some  work  or  some  danger,  suddenly  comes  and  drives  me  out 
of  my  misty  dreams.  Such  being  my  nature,  I  can  hardly  suc- 
ceed in  anything  in  my  character  of  scholar  (pardon  I  we  all,  as 
a  body,  bear  this  name,  though  few  really  deserve  it)  or  author, 
unless  I  have  some  definite  act  given  me  to  do,  some  speech  or 
lecture,  which  will  strike  some  clear  sparks  of  knowledge  and 
thought  out  of  me.  I  am  so  born,  that  I  must  speak,  in  order 
to  arrange  my  thoughts  and  feelings.  I  need  the  flint  and 
steel  of  speech  and  conversation  to  bring  out  my  small  powers. 
My  suspension  was  probably  no  loss  to  the  University,  but  a 
great  misfortune  to  me. 

"  As  I  have  already  said,  then,  after  the  misfortune  which  put 
an  end  to  my  academical  activity,  I  trifled  and  dreamt  away 
more  time  than  was  right;  and  with  a  numerous  family,  and  the 
losses  which  time  brought  with  it — for  I  lost  fees  to  the  amount  of 
from  500  to  700  thalers  annuall}' — I  had  to  accommodate  myself 
to  my  circumstances,  and  learn  to  draw  in  my  expenses.  To 
this  may  be  attributed  a  certain  plainness  and  rustic  simplicity 
which  began  to  show  itself  more  in  our  outer  life,  and  which 
some  people  have  attributed  to  my  tastes  and  fancy.     It  has 


.CT.  5I-70.]  Third  Son. 


403 


given  me  many  a  pinch,  and  does  so  still ;  but  a  good  wife, 
strong,  healthy  children,  and  many  hearty,  faithful  friends  have 
supported  me,  and  carried  me  through,  with  all  my  weakness 
and  failings,  by  their  love  and  kindness." 

In  the  midst  of  the  annoyances  and  vexations  of  his 
examination,  his  home  \\-as  brightened  by  the  birth  of 
his  third  son,  Ludwig  Roderich,  to  whom  the  Countess 
Julie  zu  Dohna  stood  godmother.  His  old  friendship 
with  her  and  her  husband  had  been  renewed  on  his 
settling  at  Bonn,  where  they  were  then  living,  and  he 
felt  the  loss  severely  when  they  left  the  place.  "  Aly  wife 
particularly  has  lost  much,"  he  writes,  "  for  the  countess 
is  one  of  the  truest  and  most  steadfast,  as  well  as  one 
of  the   most  vivacious  souls." 

Grafix  Julie  Dohna,  nee  Scharxhorst,  to  E.  M.  A. 

"Blessing  and  happiness  with  the  third  son,  dear  friend. 
Heaven  is  giving  you  in  your  children  all  the  joy  which  it  is 
taking  from  you  in  so  many  other  ways ;  and  it  was  very  pretty  of 
him  to  be  born  on  the  17th  (of  June).  He  has  the  best  of  it 
in  the  keeping  of  his  birthday,  as  he  has  fallen  between  his  two 
elder  brothers,  and  so  never  can  be  passed  over.  That  he  is  a 
boy,  is  a  good  thing  too.  Now  the  two  can  play  together,  and 
be  brought  up  together.  So  everything  is  as  one  could  wish  in 
the  birth  of  this  child. 

'•  I  thank  you  from  my  heart  that  you  have  chosen  me  to  be 
.godmother  to  the  little  one.  I  need  not  assure  you  how  much 
joy  it  gives  me,  nor  how  proud  I  am  of  it.  I  will  be  a  faithful 
godmother  to  him,  and,  if  it  should  be  necessary,  supply  a 
parent's  place  to  him. 

"  Yesterday  I  and  my  children  drank  the  health  of  the  new- 
comer. It  is  a  pity  for  the  children  that  we  live  so  far  away, 
but  they  still  take  a  great  interest  in  your  family.  Do  not  let 
your  pleasure  be  spoiled  any  more  than  you  can  help  by  the  dis- 
agreeable morning  hours.     That  too  will  soon  become  bright 

26 — 2 


404  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821-40. 


and  clear  again.     For  some  time  past  I  have  had  more  faith 
and  courage  about  that  matter.     You  never  fail  in  either." 

Arndt's  letters  to  Frau  von  Kathen  are  full  of  de- 
scriptions of  his  children,  and  the  happiness  of  his  home 
life  made  up  in  great  measure  for  the  bitter  disappoint- 
ment of  his  worldly  hopes. 

"  Yes,  it  is  very  beautiful  here,"  he  writes  on  December  7, 
182 1,  "  nature  and  all  that  God  has  made  laughs  with  indescrib- 
able loveliness  ;  everything,  too,  which  one  plants  grows  with 
extraordinary  rapidity,  and  begins  to  bear  soon,  so  that  we  have 
already  had  a  considerable  crop  from  our  cherry-trees,  which 
we  only  planted  two  years  ago.  This  has  so  won  my  house- 
wife's heart,  that  she  roundly  declares  she  loill  not  leave 
the  Rhine.  And,  indeed,  God's  blessing  is  to  be  seen  also  in 
the  two  little  boys,  whom  Rhenish  air  and  Rhenish  light  appear 
to  suit  admirably.  Little  Sige  is  really  a  nice,  lively,  sturdy 
little  man  for  his  two  and  a  half  years,  and  is  growing  up  merrily 
by  the  side  of  the  Rhine,  which  he  calls  his  Rhine,  among  his 
hens,  Thriumphant  and  Kreiant,  and  his  doves,  which  he  drives 
about  famously.  The  youngest  is  in  nothing  behind  him,  and 
is  a  bright,  pleasant  little  child,  of  whom  the  old  nurse  says,  it 
is  another  Sige." 

Three  more  boys  followed,  and  last  of  all  a  girl, 
born  in  1827,  and  named  Nanna.  But  meanwhile  he 
was  constantly  fearing  that  his  enemies  might  be  too 
strong  for  him,  and  that  he  should  be  driven  out  of  his 
pleasant  home.  Under  this  fear  he  writes  to  Professor 
Schildener  in  August  15,  1S23  : 

"  I  cannot  at  all  see  whither  fate  may  lead  me.  I  should  be 
sorry  to  leave  the  sacred  German  soil;  but  may  I  not  perhaps 
be  forced  to  ?  I  have  several  times  thought  of  England.  There, 
still,  there  is  a  sound  mode  of  life,  with  many  drawbacks,  wliich 
are  inseparable  from  everything  earthly  ;  and  if  hatred  and  con- 
tempt are  to  rest  on  my  children,  what  should  we  do  at  home  ? 


^T.  51—70.]  Fears  of  Expatriation.  405 


....  In  England  I  should  soon  find  the  means  wherewith  to 
maintain  myself  and  mine,  honestly  and  religiously;  and  no  man 
can  get  more,  as  Goethe  the  Great  says.  But  when  I  consider 
my  fifty-three  years,  I  must  trust  that  God  will  keep  me 
tolerably  active  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  yet," 

And  again,  March  27,  1824  : 

"  As  I  said  to  you  some  time  ago,  I  am  still  determined  that 
I  shall  only  quit  my  country  if  I  am  obliged ;  for  what  can  a 
man  with  the  \\'eigl-it  of  more  than  half  a  century  on  his  back 
hope  for  in  a  foreign  land  ?  Into  the  American  desert  of  so- 
called  liberty  I  could  not  go.  I  do  not  see  how  there  could  be 
any  very  enviable  happiness  there  for  me  or  for  my  grand- 
children, in  merely  having  possession  of  a  spot  of  ground  on 
which  to  graze  in  tolerable  comfort.  When  some  centuries  have 
gone  by,  it  may  be  better.  At  present,  the  best  of  them  appear 
to  me  to  be  only  good  shopkeepers,  or  to  be  as  civil  as  possible 
— shopkeeping  peasants.  Such,  of  course,  we  can  find  in 
plenty  at  our  own  doors  ;  but  we  have  much  that  is  good  and 
beautiful  which  the  New  World  does  not  as  yet  possess." 

In  the  year  1S24  the  well-known  publisher  Perthes 
visited  Bonn,  and  made  Arndt's  acquaintance.  Arndt 
had  been  a  contributor  to  Perthes'  "  National  INTuseum  " 
in  the  spring  of  18 10,  so  that  they  were  already  known 
to  each  other.     He  writes  of  him  : 

"  Arndt  is  just  what  I  pictured  him,  sound-hearted,  stable, 
lively,  and  clever  in  conversation,  never  wearisome  with  his 
etymological  and  historical  derivations,  odd  as  they  often 
sound.  Everywhere  the  poet  peeps  out,  and  it  always  does 
me  good  to  hear  his  just  and  discriminating  views  of  men,  even 
of  those  who  have  done  him  wrong.  His  hard  fate  has  left  no 
trace  of  bitterness  in  him,  and  his  good  heart  peeps  out  through 
whatever  hasty  expression  he  may  on  the  spur  of  the  moment 
utter.     The  many  points  of  contact  afforded  us   by  our  past 


406  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821—40. 

lives  soon  made  us  feel  intimate.  He  has  been  very  unjustly 
treated,  and  that  is  Niebuhr's  opinion  as  well  as  mine.  He  is 
an  imaginative  man,  and  exciting  and  stimulating  to  the  young; 
but  that  was  well  known  before  his  appointment,  for  his  whole 
character^  as  well  as  his  writings,  is  perfectly  transparent.  And 
now,  there  he  is,  in  a  beautifully-placed  house,  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  town,  but  without  any  scope  for  the  exercise  of 
his  rare  talents." 

Although  he  describes  his  life  at  this  time  as  an  "  idle 
dream  among  children,  trees  and  flowers,"  and  it  is  true 
a  great  part  of  his  time  was  spent  in  working  in  his 
garden,  which  he  had  named  Liilo,  after  the  wood  in 
Riigen  where  he  had  played  in  his  childhood,  he  did  not 
entirely  lay  aside  his  pen.  In  1826  he  published,  under 
the  title  of  "  Leisure  Hours  "  ("  Nebenstunden  ")  a  book 
on  the  Orkney  and  Shetland  Islands  ;  and  papers  by 
him  on  old  German  customs,  and  old  German  words  and 
expressions,  appeared  in  the  "  Rheinisches  Museum."  In 
1828  came  his  little  book  called  "Christian  and  Turk" 
("  Christliches  und  Tiirkisches  ").  Of  poetry,  at  this  time, 
he  wrote  but  little.  His  trouble  seems  to  have  checked 
his  singing,  and  it  was  left  for  a  heavier  trial  still  to 
break  the  ice  round  his  heart. 

■  Fresh  danger  seems  to  have  threatened  him  at  the  be- 
ginning of  1827.  Niebuhr,  writing  to  Stein,  says  : 
"  Poor  Arndt  is  still  threatened  with  being  driven  out 
from  here — God  knows  whither.  He  would  be  quite 
ruined  by  it.  The  quietness  and  composure  with  which 
he  bears  his  hard,  rough  treatment  are  quite  ad- 
mirable.' 

Arndt  himself  writes  about  it  to  Schildener  as  follows  : 


JET.  51—70.]  Stein's  Intercession.  407 


"  Bonn,  June  6,  1827. 
"  I  have  at  last  received  a  ministerial  edict,  not  only  of  the 
most  unfriendly  description,  but  also  very  important.  The 
close  of  it  seems  to  leave  me  at  the  mercy  of  a  cruel  despotism, 
and,  to  speak  truth,  looks  as  if  it  were  intended  at  last  to 
banish  and  degrade  me.  If  they  carry  matters  as  far  as  that, 
the  cask  will  be  staved  in.  I  must  give  it  all  up  and  lose  every- 
thing, and  shall  certainly  fall  into  the  greatest  distress  ;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  I  shall  be  free^  as  regards  my  enemies,  to  let  the 
world  read  and  see,  how  it  is  possible  under  a  mild  government 
for  a  man  to  be  ill-used  and  unmercifully  punished  for  the  very 
things  for  which  he  was  praised  and  rewarded  ten  or  twelve 
years  before.  I  must  be  ready  for  anything,  and,  in  case  of  the 
worst,  do  and  suffer  whatever  honour  bids,  and  God,  the  refuge 
and  shield  of  the  oppressed,  ordains.  This  winter  must  decide 
it.  I  have  been  long  used  to  look  misfortune  in  the  face.  Any- 
how, it  is  all  in  God's  hands." 

In  the  early  summer  Arndt  went  to  visit  Stein  at 
Nassau,  and  thence  sent  a  petition  to  the  King.  Stein 
forwarded  it  with  a  letter  to  Witzleben,  the  King's  aide- 
de-camp  : 

Stein  to  Witzleben. 

"  Nassau,  June  i,  1827. 

"  I  send  you,  to  do  the  best  you  can  with,  a  remonstrance  of 
Professor  Arndt,  of  Bonn,  to  the  King's  Majesty,  about  retain- 
ing his  professorship  and  his  property  situated  in  Bonn.  In- 
terest yourself  in  this  upright  man,  who  has  been  harassed  for 
eight  years  past  by  suspicion  and  stupidity.  He  kept  alive 
courage  and  devotion  to  God,  the  King,  and  the  Fatherland  by 
his  words,  deeds,  and  self-sacrifice,  at  a  time  when  many,  now 
in  positions  of  influence,  trembled  or  cringed.  His  writings 
animated  and  strengthened  the  spirit  of  self-sacrificing  patriotism, 
which  was  expressed  so  nobly  in  the  time  of  foreign  rule  in  the 
Prussian  States.  The  highest  authority  has  declared  Arndt 
innocent,  yet  punishes  him  with  disgrace,  for  such  is  the  depriv- 
ing him  of  his  office  and  injuring  his  property.     Was  not  the 


408  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821—40. 

whole  investigation  an  injustice?  for  Arndt's  writings  appeared 
at  a  time  when  he  was  no  Prussian  subject,  nor  did  they  pre- 
vent his  being  appointed  professor.  They  all  appeared  before 
that  time. 

"  I  trust  that  you  will  take  pains  to  bring  the  truth  before  his 
Majesty  the  King,  whose  sincere,  kind,  noble  mind  will  decide 
the  matter  in  such  a  way  as  may  secure  the  evening  of  the  faithful, 
honest  Arndt's  life  against  trouble  and  deprivation.  And  what 
is  to  be  said  for  the  sentiments  of  influential  persons,  when  a 
Herr  von  Herrmann,  aTyrolese  who  betrayed  his  country,  who 
in  the  Montgelas-time  scoffed  at  the  Prussian  States  in  his 
'  Allemannia,'  stands  at  the  head  of  the  Untersuchungs  Com- 
mission at  Maintz,  while  honest,  faithful,  vigorous,  gifted  Arndt 
is  assailed  in  his  reputation  and  injured  in  his  property,  and 
that  wretch  sits  among  his  judges  and  inquisitors  ?" 

Stein's  intercession  prevailed,  and  the  King  allowed 
him  to  remain  undisturbed  in  his  house  at  Bonn  and  in 
receipt  of  his  stipend  as  professor.  His  brother-in-law, 
Schleiermacher,  came  to  visit  him  the  next  year,  and 
sent  home  to  his  wife  the  following  picture  of  his  family  : 

"  Yesterday,  at  dinner,  we  were  alone,  and  Sigerich  said  a 
genuine  Arndt  grace  before  meat.  After  dinner  we  had  a  beau- 
tiful walk  to  Blettersdorf,  also  alone.  Nitzsch  was  to  have 
come,  but  did  not  arrive  till  tea-time.  The  little  flock  looked 
very  pretty.  Hartmuth  (nicknamed  Sparrowhavvk)  and  Wili- 
bald,  in  little  red-striped  frocks,  were  drawn  in  a  little  carriage. 
The  three  eldest  ran  about  us  in  blue  blouses." 

In  1 83 1,  when  the  troubles  in  France  were  threatening 
renewed  disturbances  in  Europe,  Arndt  published  a 
pamphlet  called  "  The  Question  of  the  Netherlands  and 
the  Rhinelands."  ("  Die  Frage  iiber  die  Niederlande 
und  die  Rheinlande.") 

Stein  wrote,  on  receiving  this  book  :  "  Excellent, 
capital  !  here  sounds  the   war-cry,  the  triumph  song  of 


^T.  51—70.]     Deaths  of  Stein  and  Niebuhr.  409 


the  old  Skalds— powerful,  historically  true,  animating, 
exciting.  Let  me  have  a  thousand  copies  at  two  silver 
groschen  through  the  publisher.  I  will  pa)-  the  ex- 
pense." 

But  the  friendship  with  the  great  minister,  which 
Arndt's  disgrace  had  not  interrupted,  was  now  broken 
by  death.  In  August,  1831,  Arndt  writes  :  "  I  have  just 
come  from  Schloss  Nassau,  where  I  have  been  on  busi- 
ness with  the  daughter  of  the  deceased  minister.  Stein, 
and  am  still  much  affected  by  many  reminiscences  of 
this  good  and  brave  old  man.  His  shield  and  helmet 
are  laid  in  the  grave  with  him,  but  his  memory  will  be 
sacred  to  all  true  Germans.  His  last  wishes,  his  prayers, 
and  his  conversations  with  his  family,  were  for  the  Ger- 
man Fatherland." 

In  the  same  year  he  lost  another  old  and  true  friend, 
Niebuhr,  who  had  stood  by  him  faithfully  through  good 
and  evil.  On  the  occasion  of  one  of  the  visits  of  the 
Crown  Prince  to  the  Rhine  provinces,  he  came  to  Bonn, 
and  the  University  met  to  do  him  honour.  Arndt  came 
with  the  rest  of  the  professors,  but  kept  in  the  back- 
ground, not  knowing  what  reception  he  might  meet  with. 
Niebuhr,  however,  who  was  also  present,  drew  him  for- 
ward and  presented  him  to  the  Prince,  saying,  "  This  is 
my  friend  Arndt,"  an  act  of  real  friendship,  as  Arndt  re- 
marks, for  it  was  no  advantage  to  any  one  to  be  seen 
speaking  to  him  at  that  time,  or  to  be  known  as  Arndt's 
friend. 

We  must  now  go  on  to  the  year  1834,  when  that 
terrible  blow  fell  upon  him,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
suffered  to  the  end  of  his  life.     We  will  give  the  account 


410  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S21— 40. 

in  his  own  words,    as    he  relates    it  in    his    "  Recollec- 
tions "  : 

"In  that  most  beautiful  summer  of  1834,  on  a  beautiful 
bright  afternoon,  June  26,  the  Rhine  took  from  me  my  sixth 
and  youngest  son,  a  child  of  nine  years  old,  under  circumstances 
which  are  too  terrible  to  relate.  Oh,  we  are  poor  mortals  ! 
God  had  warned  us,  but  signs  and  warnings  are  lost  on  the 
blind.  We  must  fulfil  His  decrees.  He  was  such  a  beautiful, 
spirited  boy,  and  I  had  built  great  hopes  on  him,  and  had 
thought  and  prayed  most  about  him.  Why  should  the  Rhine 
demand  this  sacrifice  from  me,  of  all  men  ?  Had  my  joy  at 
winning  it  back  been  too  earthly,  and  my  thanks  too  little 
heavenly  ?  Had  I  loved  the  sweet  child  too  much  ?  Childish 
questions  !  God  alone  knows,  who  loves  and  guides  us.  But 
I  shall  feel  this  wound  as  long  as  I  wander  in  this  vale  of 
shadows.  The  old  trunk  which  had  stood  up  straight  enough 
through  all  storms  till  then,  feels  itself  shattered,  and  droops  its 
branches  over  the  grave." 

He  wrote  of  it  at  the  time  to  Frau  Pistorius  : 

"The  contents  of  our  last  letter  about  the  irremediable  loss 
which  his  friends  and  the  world  have  suff"ered  inSchleiermacher's 
decease  were  painful,  but  more  painful  and  mournful  to  us  is  the 
loss  which  we  suff'ered  the  day  before  yesterday,  when  our 
youngest  son,  Gustav  Wilibald,  nearly  nine  years  old,  through 
the  carelessness  of  one  who  was  with  him,  sank  in  the  Rhine, 
and  will  never  return  to  this  sun  and  to  the  joys  of  this  earth. 
He  was  a  lovable,  beautiful,  strong  child ;  in  talent,  courage, 
determination,  and  in  individuality  of  character,  as  it  was  begin- 
ning these  last  years  to  develop,  perhaps  the  most  distinguished 
of  our  children." 

The  body  was  found,  but  not  till  some  days  after, 
several  miles  down  the  river.  Arndt  himself  brought  it 
home  in  a  boat,  and  over  the  grave  he  planted  an  oak, 
leaving  room  for  another  tomb  beside  it. 


/ET.  51— 70.]  Death  of  Wilihald.  411 

Often  at  night  he  would  come  and  weep  beside  it. 
With  his  northern  poetic  fancy,  he  remembered  that  at 
his  birth  the  widow  of  the  poet  Schenkendorf,  who  was 
staying  in  the  house,  had  made  all  the  children  drink 
the  baby's  health  in  Rhine  water,  and  that  he  himself 
had  been  used  to  call  him  his  Narcissus-flower. 

"  You  comfort  us,"  he  writes  to  Frau  von  Kathen.  "  You 
point  us  to  the  only  real  and  true  comfort  which  in  such  grief 
can  sustain  and  support  us.  We  have  dear  good  friends  here, 
who  lavish  their  love  and  kindness  upon  us  ;  but  the  grief  is  too 
recent ;  indeed  it  is  only  now,  after  the  first  crushing  effect  of 
the  violent  blow  is  over,  that  the  grief  has  begun  to  flow  in 
tears;  and  for  all  those  earthly  joys  and  hopes,  for  all  those 
dreams  and  fancies  which  we  need  to  cherish  here  below,  in 
order  not  to  sink  under  the  vanity  of  earth,  it  seems  to  us  as 
if,  in  the  sweet  boy  who  has  flown  away  upwards  so  early,  we 
had  lost  immeasurably. 

"  Besides,  the  suddenness  and  violence  of  his  going  home 
worked  on  the  feelings  of  the  moment.  My  faith  stands  firm 
that  without  God  nothing  happens,  and  I  have  had  signs 
that  this  was  prepared  for  me  by  divine  wisdom.  I  feel  also 
that  this  child  has  been  taken  especially  from  me,  and  see  now, 
for  the  first  time,  how  his  life  and  mine  had  grown  together,  and 
how,  in  the  great  hopes  which  his  fine  mental  and  bodily  gifts 
justly  excited,  I  had  looked  for  a  long  and  close  community  of 
feeling  in  future  days. 

"  But  all  this  was  not  to  come  true  on  this  earth.  And  what 
good  does  all  questioning  about  the  mysterious  and  holy  ways 
of  God  do  to  us  ?  Did  he  leave  us  so  early  because,  through 
my  sinfiilness,  I  was  not  worthy  of  him  ?  Have  we  made  an 
idol  of  the  child  ?  Were  we  to  be  drawn  more  from  earth  and 
the  good  things  of  earth  ?  etc.,  etc.  Such  questions  and  a 
thousand  similar  ones  occur  to  me.  Our  sinful  nature  and  its 
efforts — does  it  ever  deserve  any  happiness  ?  Have  we  not 
received  all  good  things  and  all  our  joys    unearned   and  of 


412  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1821—40. 

.grace  ?  Then,  we  did  not  make  an  idol  of  our  dearest  son  ;  his 
simple,  strong  nature  did  not  tempt  us  to  do  that.  We  have 
•often  prayed  beside  him  and  his  brothers  and  sister  as  they 
slept,  and  thanked  God  for  their  bright,  healthy  life.  That  we 
may  be  more  drawn  from  earth  ?  Yes,  we  must  all  cling  to  it ; 
and  I  knew  nothing  that  bound  me  to  it  but  love  to  my 
children  and  to  my  friends." 

And  again,  September  14,  1834: 

"  It  is  a  splendid  festive  Sunday,  full  of  sunshine  and  of  the 
warm,  loving  breath  of  Nature,  which  yesterday  was  refreshed  by 
a  gentle  rain.  I  have  been  with  the  children  gathering  grapes 
and  shaking  down  nuts  for  dinner,  then  reading  some  pretty 
songs  to  them,  but  not  without  tears  ;  for  he  is  wanting  who 
used  to  open  his  large  eyes  widest,  and  listen  with  the  most 
fiery  ardour.  Oh,  we  miss  him  on  every  occasion,  or  rather 
he  is  present  at  every  step  !  He  was  the  flower  of  my  house, 
a  child  of  desire,  made  to  be  a  prince  among  his  brethren, 
remarkable  in  mind  and  heart,  in  beauty  and  strength.  God 
only  showed  him  to  me  ;  His  holy  will  has  taken  him  again  to 
the  place,  where  spirits  of  higher  order  dwell.  Our  mourning  for 
our  beloved  one  must  be  of  the  noblest ;  we  must  think  of  him 
as  a  good  spirit  hovering  near  us,  as  his  name,  Gustav  (Jostaf, 
Swedish  and  Persian),  indeed  imports.  The  day  after  to- 
morrow would  have  been  his  earthly  birthday,  and  he  would 
have  completed  his  ninth  year  :  now  for  nearly  three  months 
he  rests  in  the  ground,  and  his  grave  is  growing  green.  The 
huge  apples  on  his  tree  with  which  he  used  to  entertain  his 
friends  on  his  birthday,  have  been  gathered  in  great  abun- 
dance. Our  old  farmer  has,  as  usual,  brought  the  honey  which 
used  to  be  cut  for  the  first  time  on  this  day.  All  this  not 
for  him,  and  the  rejoicing  of  this  day  never  to  be  heard  again 
in  our  house  here  below !  Stillness  and  sorrow  instead, 
wreaths  of  mourning,  fetched  from  the  same  wood  where  we 
used  to  get  the  wreaths  of  joy,  will  hang  on  his  tree,  and,  in 
the  silent,  sad  moonlight  be  laid  by  his  mother  and  me  on  his 
grave. 


^T.  51—70.]  Wilibald.  413 


"  O  dearest  friend,  grief  is  strong  within  me  !  He  was  certainly 
a  being  of  a  higher  order  whom  I  have  lost,  not  without  many- 
signs  that  I  should  lose  him  ;  and  I  must  always  think  that 
God  has  taken  him  away  because  I  was  not  worthy  to  possess 
such  a  treasure,  or  not  capable  of  educating  such  a  child. 
But  what  is  the  use  of  sucli  thoughts  and  feelings?  God 
has  closed  Wilibald's  book,  and  we  can  scarcely  decipher  a  few 
lines  of  His  unsearchable  decrees,  which  are  written  in  hiero- 
glyphics." 

Time  seems  to  have  done  little  to  heal  this  wound. 
He  recurs  to  it  again  and  again  in  his  poems  and  letters 
years  after.  He  recalls  the  little  boy  offering  to  fight 
for  the  Rhine,  and  mournfully  adds  that  the  Rhine  had 
accepted  the  sacrifice.  He  hears  the  child's  voice 
bidding  him  good-night,  and  sees  him  coming  from  the 
wood  laden  with  flowers. 


AncT  last  He  struck  me  with  a  bolt  straight  driven, 
A  thunderbolt  from  out  a  cloudless  heaven  ; 
A  sorrow  such  as  strikes  the  young  head  hoary, 
And  fades  and  strips  away  life's  greenest  glory. 
Swift  from  my  side  my  loveliest  boy  was  hurried, 
The  cold  Rhine  caught  him,  slew,  and  buried. 

Righteous  is  God,  and  good  and  just  His  pleasure. 

He  meteth  out  to  all  with  perfect  measure  ; 

Him,  who  on  pilgrim  roads  seeks  only  flowers. 

Him,  God  drives  forth  to  thorns  and  gloomy  hours  : 

Lest  I  should  lose  my  way  amid  the  roses. 

The  Lord  to  my  weak  soul  such  grief  discloses. 

Righteous  is  God,  and  just  and  good  His  keeping. 

Oh  man,  confess  it  'mid  thy  bitter  weeping  ; 

He  rolleth  mystery  athwart  life's  morning, 

That  thou  may'st  hunger  for  the  true  light's  dawning  : 

And  that  dear  need  may  force  thee  to  thy  praying, 

And  lead  from  earth  to  heaven  thy  footsteps  straying. 


414  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S21-40. 


"  God,  the  gracious  and  compassionate,  in  this  great  affliction 
which  He  has  sent  us,  has  not  left  Himself  without  witness,  but 
has  many  times  opened  to  me  the  world  of  heaven  and  of 
spirits,  and  has  drawn  aside  the  earthly  veil,  so  that  I  often 
think  I  can  see  clearly  into  that  home  whence  we  come,  and 
whither  we  shall  return  again.  ...  In  all  my  trouble,  I  am 
blessed  in  this,  that  I  have  had  my  beautiful  boy,  who  was  the 
finest  and  most  hopeful  flower  of  the  house,  and  that  I  have 
him  still,  and  that  I  shall  certainly  have  him  again  and  keep 
him,  as  certainly  as  God  and  the  Saviour  are  ours  in  and  through 
love." 

During  these  years  it  appears  he  wrote  but  little.  A 
political  pamphlet  entitled  "  Belgium,  and  what  depends 
upon  it "  ("  Belgien,  und  was  daran  hangt "),  came  out  in 
1834,  and  in  1839  he  published  his  "  Swedish  History." 
This  book,  however,  which  is  considered  one  of  his  best 
productions,  had  been  written  in  the  years  1809-10,  but 
as  it  deals  mostly  with  the  reign  of  Gustavus  IV.,  he 
kept  it  back  until  the  death  of  the  fallen  prince. 

He  next  employed  himself  in  writing  his  "  Recollec- 
tions of  my  Outer  Life "  ("  Erinnerungen  aus  dem 
iiusseren  Leben  "),  the  greatest  part  of  which  has  been 
incorporated  in  the  present  volume.  The  book  was  pub- 
lished at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1840,  and  was  so 
warmly  received,  that  it  v.-as  necessary  to  bring  out  a 
second  edition  within  a  few  weeks.  He  explains  in  the 
preface  the  motives  that  had  induced  him  to  offer  to  the 
world  an  account  of  his  life,  and  it  may  be  well  to  give 
an  extract  from  it  here  : 

"  In  the  middle  ages,"  he  says,  "  there  used  to  be  in  the  old 
market-place  of  the  fine  old  town  of  Stralsund  a  thing  that  was 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Broad  Stone,  not  far  from  another 


^T.  51— 70-]  '' RecoUectionsr  415 

place  of  public  exhibition,  there  known  as  the  Kak,  elsewhere 
as  the  Pillory.  This  Broad  Stone  used  formerly  to  be  used  as 
the  place  for  making  any  solemn  announcement  or  proclama- 
tion. For  instance,  when  appointments  were  made  to  places  of 
high  authority,  they  were  announced  to  the  people  from  this 
spot.  Betrothals  were  published  here— the  affianced  placing 
themselves  on  it  in  festive  attire,  while  their  names  were  pro- 
claimed with  the  sound  of  trumpets  and  kettle-drums,  and  a 
challenge  was  given  to  all  objectors.  Here,  in  the  same  way, 
I  am  placing  myself  on  the  Broad  Stone,  not  on  its  neighbour. 
In  a  itw  slight  lines  I  have  sketched  the  outlines  of  my  public 
life,  of  my  life  as  a  German  citizen.  I  had  reason  enough  for 
doing  so,  sirice  it  had  been  repeatedlypublicly  attacked.  Danton, 
the  foreign  monster,  once  spoke  the  noble  words,  '  Let  my  name 
be  disgraced,  so  long  as  the  country  is  saved.'  But  still,  when 
great  matters  are  not  involved,  who  is  willing  to  be  disgraced  and 
pilloried  ?  What  does  the  Fatherland  gain  from  one  of  its 
children  being  considered  a  rogue  and  a  fool  ?" 

These  words  were  written  in  February,  1840,  when  he 
had  long  given  up  all  hopes  of  being  reinstated  in  his 
position.  But  in  June  of  the  same  year,  Frederick 
William  III.  died,  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  his  suc- 
cessor was  to  restore  Arndt  to  his  professorship,  as  the 
Cabinet  order  stated,  "  because  the  King  knov/s  him  and 
trusts  him." 

"  For  twenty  years,"  Arndt  says,  "  I  had  been  lying  by  like 
an  old  blade  which  has  rusted  in  the  scabbard.  I  was  over 
seventy;  too  old  for  fresh,  living  speech.  At  an  age  when  a 
wise  man  would  leave  the  professor's  chair,  I  was  to  mount 
it  again.  I  hesitated  and  hesitated,  feeling  that  my  trumpet 
had  blown  its  last  blast ;  that  I  had  no  longer  any  os  magna 
sonans  ;  that  I  should  be,  for  the  University,  nothing  but  a  use- 
less name.  But  I  was  so  situated  that  to  his  jNIajesty  and  to 
people  at  a  distance  a  refusal  would  have  had  the  appearance 
of  defiance." 


41 6  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1840. 

The  news  was  received  with  enthusiasm  throughout 
the  Rhine  provinces.  The  students  compelled  him  to 
begin  a  course  of  lectures  at  once,  though  it  was  the 
middle  of  the  term  ;  and  when  he  announced  his  first 
lecture  for  July  29th,  the  K'dlniscJie  Zeitimg  remarked 
that  there  certainly  would  not  be  a  hall  large  enough  for 
his  audience.  The  town  of  Bonn  celebrated  the  event 
with  a  great  banquet,  in  Avhich  one  hundred  and  sixty 
persons  of  all  classes  took  part,  and  to  which  Arndt  and 
three  of  his  sons  were  invited  as  guests. 

He  was  chosen  Rector  of  the  University  for  the 
ensuing  year,  and  was  installed  on  the  i8th  of  October, 
being  received  with  great  warmth  by  all  his  colleagues 
with  the  one  exception  of  A,  W.  Schlegel,  who  had 
criticised  Arndt's  poetry,  in  his  "  Musen  Almanach,"  as 
"patriotic  schnaps."  In  the  customary  Latin  oration  on 
this  occasion,  after  saying  that  he  felt  it  would  have 
been  more  suitable  for  him  to  have  remained  in  his  gar- 
den digging  his  flower-beds  and  pruning  his  trees,  he 
goes  on  :  "  But  the  message  came  that  the  most  just  and 
gracious  King  had,  out  of  his  own  impulse,  commanded 
that  I  should  be  restored  to  the  place  which  I  had  so 
unwillingly  left.  The  message  fell  upon  me  like  light- 
ning, dazzling  rather  than  reviving.  I  was  shattered, 
stunned,  overwhelmed.  I  asked  myself,  what  does  it 
mean  .''  I  had  long  given  up  the  hope  of  happy  days. 
The  returning  tide  of  fortune,  of  which  I  knew  so  well 
the  fickleness  and  changeableness,  alarmed  me.  I  felt 
the  infirmities  and  burdens  of  seventy  years,  so  that  it 
needed  the  exhortations  of  many  friends  to  make  me 
leave  the  retirement  in   which    I  lived.  .  .  .  But  what 


^T.  70.]  Restoration.  417 

more  shall  I  say  ?  I  have  had  to  shake  myself  out  of 
the  long,  sweet  sleep  of  forgetfulness  in  which  I  lay 
buried,  and  have  been  brought  back  again  into  a  new, 
unaccustomed  mode  of  life.  I  should  have  acted  better 
and  more  wisely  indeed  if  I  had  remained  where  I  Avas, 
but  so  many  and  weighty  testimonies  of  friendship  and 
goodwill,  hopes  and  expectations,  to  which  the  speaker 
who  has  just  left  this  chair  alluded  when  speaking  too 
honourably  and  flatteringly  of  me,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  withstand." 

Some  years  afterwards  he  wrote  of  the  event  :  "  Of 
that  summer  of  1840  I  can  only  think  with  joy.  My 
restoration  was  a  feast,  a  day  of  joy  to  the  whole  town, 
to  my  dear  fellow-citizens  and  associates,  and  never  can 
I  forget  the  affection  and  kindness  with  which  the  then 
curator,  Herr  von  Rehfues,  and  all  my  colleagues  re- 
ceived me,  and  even  chose  me  rector  for  the  ensuing 
year." 


27 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   FRANKFORT   PARLIAMENT. 

Dahlmann. — French  Revolution. — Parliament  at  Frankfort. — Arndt's  Elec- 
tion.— At  Frankfort. — Correspondence  with  King  of  Prussia. — Arndtgoes 
to  Berlin  with  offer  of  the  Cro\\-n  to  King. — Break-up  of  the  Parlia- 
ment. 

Thus  once  more  honourably  reinstated,  Arndt  took  up 
again  the  duties  of  a  professor.  His  health  the  pre- 
ceding year  had  not  been  good  ;  he  writes  of  having  had 
to  keep  his  bed  and  his  room,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
his  life  having  been  really  ill. 

The  same  year,  at  the  desire  of  his  friends,  he  published 
a  new  edition  of  his  poems,  "  improved,  abridged,  and 
also  enlarged."  In  1842  came  the  second  part  of  his 
"  Mahrchen,"  and  a  third  edition  of  his  "  Recollections," 
and  in  1843  he  printed  a  series  of  lectures,  delivered  after 
his  restoration,  under  the  title  of  "  An  Essay  in  the  Com- 
parative History  of  Nations." 

About  this  timCj  Professor  Dahlmann,  who  had  been 
ejected  from  Gottingen  for  his  political  opinions,  was 
appointed  by  the  King  of  Prussia  to  a  professorship,  and 
a  close  friendship  sprang  up  between  him  and  Arndt. 
"  What  united  them  was  the  faithfulness  with  which  they 
both  stood  by  their  principles,  and  the  unalterable 
constancy  with  which  they  adhered  to  their  political  aims. 
Dahlmann,  in  his  gloomy  hours,  gained  firmer  courage 


^T.  70— 79-]  Disputes  of  the  Times.  419 

from  Arndt's  fresh  youthful  confidence,  while  Arndt 
looked  up  to  Dahlmann  as  the  man  most  truly  called  to 
be  the  counsellor  of  the  German  people."  *  The  hopes 
which  had  been  excited  throughout  Prussia  on  the  ac- 
cession of  the  new  King,  that  the  constitution  so  long 
promised  would  at  last  be  granted,  could  scarcely  fail  to 
find  an  echo  in  Arndt's  breast.  Conscious  of  the  spirit  of 
restlessness  and  dissatisfaction  stirring  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  he  felt  assured  that  the  cause  of  it  lay  in  this, 
that  the  German  people  had  found  out  "  that  they  had 
wings — stronger  and  better  wings  for  fl}'ing  than  even 
the  best  Englishmen  or  Frenchmen,  while  they  were  not 
allowed  full  liberty  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  and  delight  of 
flying,"  and  in  this  spirit  he  wrote  to  the  princes  in  1842  : 

' '  Look  ye  on  German  Michel  yet  ? 

Oh,  never  think  with  him  to  banter  ! 
He  is  the  self-same  wild  man  yet ! 

Not  scant  of  hand,  of  heart  not  scanter. 
Trust  not  too  much  his  idle  dream  ; 

He  dreams  full  hard  at  break  of  morning  : 
And  dreams  like  his  are  no  mere  gleam ; 
'  They  have  the  full  red  light  of  dawning." 

Xor  was  it  merely  political  freedom  that  he  looked 
for.  The  prosperity  of  Germany  from  all  points  of  view 
was  a  matter  of  deep  interest  to  him.  In  the  three 
volumes  of  his  collected  writings  which  he  published  in 
1S45,  and  which  contain,  besides  many  of  his  earlier 
pamphlets,  several  papers  written  between  1842-44,  it  is 
easy  to  trace  the  subjects  which  chiefly  occupied  his 
mind.  The  union  of  Germany  was  still  the  one  great 
thing — the  union  of  Germany  with  Prussia  at  its  head  > 
but   besides   this  there  are   papers    on   the  theological 

*  "  Life  of  Dahlmann"  (Springer). 

27 2 


420 


Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S40— 49, 


conflicts  of  the  day,  on  the  dangers  from  the  Roman 
Cathohcs,  and  the  freethinking  opinions  so  prevalent 
in  the  Protestant  Churches.  One  of  these  papers 
he  says,  was  written  because  his  little  daughter  was  often 
present  at  conversations  and  disputes  on  these  subjects. 

"-  And  so  at  first  I  only  meant  to  put  something  on  paper 
for  her,  showing  in  a  simple  and  childish  way  how  the  light  of 
Christianity  and  Protestant  freedom  would  at  last  by  its  simple 
beauty  and  divine  power  and  majesty,  shine  out  victoriously 
over  all  the  dreary  confusion  of  the  present,  and  appear  as  the 
happiness  and  glory  of  the  world.  That  was  what  I  intended 
and  wished  to  do,  but  I  did  not  succeed,  but  fell  into  quite 
another  way  and  quite  another  manner.  I  see  I  can  no  longer 
write  in  a  childlike  way  for  childish  pious  hearts." 

"You  allude,"  he  writes  to  Frau  von  Kathen,  in  1846,"  to  the 
quarrels  and  disturbances  in  the  Church.  They  must  be  fought 
out,  yes,  rage  themselves  out,  even  though  it  is  about  holy  things. 
They  are  now  in  conference  in  Berlin,  and  I  hope  they  will  not 
try  to  bind  in  chains  that  which  no  chains  can  or  ought  to  bind. 
I  ook  on  confidendy,  however  much  the  hands  of  the  kings 
and  princes  may  be  in  it.  Some  high-priestly  arabesques,  of 
which  the  aposdes  and  evangelists  knew  nothing,  will  probably 
by  degrees  again  fade  and  drop  out  of  our  formularies  ;  no  one 
will  be  able  to  tear  out  of  them  Jesus  Christ  and  His  divine 
nature  \  that  truth  is  ever  green  and  shoots  up  freshly,  in  spite 
of  all  pruning." 
And  again  : 

"  You  lament  the  confusion  of  the  present  time.  But  here, 
too,  I  belong  to  the  hopeful  class  ;  I  do  not  see  that  it  is  worse 
than  the  time  I  have  lived  through,  but  in  many  respects  better. 
But  our  beloved  Christian  religion  ?  Well,  the  rage  and  storm 
about  it,  which  often  seems  as  if  it  could  and  would  destroy  it, 
proves  that  it  is  still  there,  and  that  it  is  still  a  great  power. 
All  those  who  storm  Heaven  will  be  brought  to  shame  by  the 
teaching  of  love  and  mercy ;  for  to  a  higher  view  and  higher 
worship  of  the  Divine,  no  teaching  can  lead  a  mortal  being.  I 
send  you  some  verses,  in  which  I  have  had  these  stormers  of 


^T.  70—79.]  Convulsions  in   Germany.  421 

Heaven  before  my  eyes.  I  am  forced  to  hear  the  clash  of  their 
arms  round  my  head,  and  sometimes  in  the  hands  of  my  own 
sons,  one  of  whom  is  trying  to  arm  himself  in  philosophy.  j\Iay 
he  only  at  last,  through  the  boldness  and  power  she  gives  him, 
attain  to  the  peace  of  God  in  his  heart." 

The  other  books  published  by  him  about  this  time  were 
a  little  volume  called  "  Wanderings  from  Godesberg," 
and  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Ueber  rheinischen  ritter- 
biirtigen  Autonomen,"  on  certain  rights  and  privileges 
claimed  by  some  noble  families  of  the  Rhenish  provinces, 
and  in  1847  ^'^  account  of  his  trial.  This  he  was  forced 
to  write  by  some  attacks  which  had  been  made  on  his 
character.  He  published  it  under  the  title  of  "  A  State- 
ment of  Facts  out  of  my  Life,  forced  from  me  by  Neces- 
sity "  ("  Nothgedrungener  Bericht  aus  meinem  Leben  "). 

When  the  news  of  the  flight  of  Louis  Philippe  and  the 
success  of  the  French  i  evolution  reached  Bonn,  Arndt 
and  many  others  assembled  at  Professor  Dahlmann's 
house  to  consult  on  the  probable  consequences.  They 
felt  that  it  was  the  spark  which  would  set  light  to  the 
tinder  already  prepared  throughout  Germany,  and  Arndt, 
hopeful  as  his  nature  was,  heard  the  cockcrow  of  the 
German  morning. 

An  address  was  drawn  up,  and  signed  by  most  of  the 
professors,  petitioning  that  they  might  be  granted  a 
voice  in  the  levying  of  taxes  and  the  making  of  laws  ; 
that  the  press  might  be  freed,  and  that  a  parliament 
might  be  summoned  to  "  complete  the  building  of  the 
constitution."  It  concluded  by  expressing  the  opinion 
that  the  whole  of  Germany  desired  that  the  King  of 
Prussia  should  become  the  chief  leader  in  German  affairs. 

To  this  hope  that  Prussia  would  come  to  the  front, 


422  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S40— 49. 

Arndt  clung  steadfastly  for  many  months,  while  the 
rulers  of  state  after  state  were  forced  by  their  subjects  to 
grant  constitutions,  and  Austria  was  convulsed  by 
rebellion.  The  King  of  Prussia  was  not  indisposed  to 
reform,  and  only  the  year  before  had  assembled  a  kind 
of  parliament.  But  what  would  have  come  with  grace 
from  him  a  year  or  two  earlier,  he  delayed  to  grant  until 
riots  broke  out  in  his  capital,  and  a  tumultuous  mob 
attacked  his  palace.  The  constitution  was  proclaimed, 
and  the  city  quieted  by  the  troops  after  a  fight  of  nine- 
teen hours,  during  which  216  of  the  people  and  eighteen 
soldiers  lost  their  lives.  And  then,  when  all  was  quiet 
again,  the  troops  were  withdrawn^  the  Polish  rebels 
released,  and  the  city  given  up  to  the  care  of  a  revolu- 
tionary burgher  guard. 

When  the  news  that  the  constitution  had  been  granted 
reached  Bonn,  a  number  of  the  populace  assembled,  and, 
headed  by  Gottfried  Kinkel,  paraded  the  town  ;  and  going 
to  the  houses  of  Dahlmann  and  Arndt,  fetched  them  out, 
and  led  them  to  the  steps  of  the  town-hall,  where  Kinkel 
waved  over  their  heads  a  gigantic  banner  of  black,  red 
and  gold,  amid  the  cheers  of  the  people. 

But  while  the  thoughts  of  many  were  bent  on  over- 
turning the  whole  Government  and  creating  a  great 
German  republic,  and  others  were  bewildered  and  per- 
plexed by  the  general  confusion,  Arndt  still  urged  upon 
the  people  that  Prussia  must  be  Germany's  king,  and  with 
his  "  old  heart  and  snow-white  head  threw  himself  cheer- 
fully into  the  young  German  hopes." 

Frau  Dahlmann  relates  that  one  day  in  the  midst  of 
the  popular  excitement  in  Bonn,  when  she  happened  to 


^.T.  78.]  Election.  423 

be  superintending  the  hanging  of  some  curtains,  the 
workman  got  down  from  the  ladder,  saying :  "  I  must  go 
to  the  assembly  ;  it  is  a  kind  of  a  disease  in  me  ;  I  must 
go."  And  that  Dahlmann  being  urged  to  go  to  the 
assembly  to  use  his  influence  against  those  who  wished 
to  go  too  far,  found  a  Kolner  standing  on  a  table 
addressing  the  people  on  the  subject  of  universal  suffrage, 
and  when  he  had  done  Arndt  then  mounted  the  table 
and  spoke  vehemently  against  the  stupid  unpractical 
proposal.  He  himself  gives  vent  in  the  following  letter 
to  his  feelings  of  disappointment  at  the  course  taken  by 
the  Government  of  Prussia,  with  its  consequence  of  tumult 
and  bloodshed. 

"  Thank  you,  dear  friend,  for  all  your  kind  words  and  remem- 
brances, and  that  you  trust  in  and  build  all  your  hopes  upon 
the  great  Master.  He  will  in  His  wisdom  make  out  of  all  this 
bloody  tumult  and  wild  confusion  and  commotion,  something 
better  than  we  short-sighted  moles  can  see  or  imagine ;  but 
looking  at  and  considering  matters  from  a  human  point  of  view, 
it  seems  as  if  a  year  ago,  or  even  a  couple  of  months,  they  might 
have  been  woven  better  than  they  have  come  to  us  now  from 
the  bloody  loom  of  the  times.  Oh,  there  have  been  those  who 
have  long  given  warning  and  pointed  out  the  right  way — even 
my  little  part  has  not  been  wanting — but  in  vain.  Against 
reason  and  wisdom  it  has  all  become  a  dismal  confusion, 
and  now  we  have  been  forced  to  imitate  the  street  riots  of 
Berlin,  not  merely  in  effigy,  and  God  knows  whether  they  will 
not  imitate  them  bloodily  in  many  German  cities.  But  after 
all  God  does  it  that  he  may  put  to  shame  the  craftiness  of  the 
wicked,  and  cast  to  the  dust  the  wisdom  of  the  mighty.  Dear 
Germany  will  have  to  pay  heavily  for  the  strengthening  of 
its  union  in  one  empire,  perhaps  with  bloodshed.  Our 
bright  hopes  have  been  darkened,  and  dark  evil  spirits  have 
taken  part  ir  the  shaking  and  convulsions  of  the  time.  I  with 
many  good  men  here  are  in  open  conflict  with  a  swarm  of  fools 


424 


Life  of  Arndt.  [-^-D-  1848. 


and  good-for-noughts,  who  would  destroy  and  revolutionise 
everything.  If  they  conquer,  it  is  hard  to  say  what  will  hap- 
pen ;  I  am  preparing  for  many  a  'heavy  blow,  and  pray  God  to 
give  me  true  courage  to  the  end." 

In  the  great  hopes  and  expectations  aroused  by  the 
preliminary  Parliament  (Vorparlament)  which  met  at 
Frankfort  on  the  31st  March,  Arndt  fully  shared.  It 
was  his  friend  Dahlmann  who,  as  a  member  of  the 
Committee  of  Seventeen,  drew  up  the  plan  for  a  Consti- 
tution, to  be  submitted  to  the  National  Assembly,  sum- 
moned to  meet  at  the  Paulus  Kirche  at  Frankfort,  on 
the  1 8th  May.  The  great  idea,  which  he  had  set  before 
his  mind,  the  union  of  the  Empire  under  a  mighty 
Emperor,  seemed  about  to  be  realised. 

Before  the  meeting  of  this  Parliament  he  issued  a  little 
pamphlet,  "  Regenerated  Germany,  or  rather,  Germany 
being  Regenerated "  ("  Das  verjungte  oder  vielmehr 
verjijngende  Deutschland"),  in  which,  after  explaining  the 
changes  which  he  hoped  this  first  German  Parliament 
would  effect,  he  attacked  those  who  hoped  to  introduce  re- 
publicanism into  Germany.  "  We  will  go  along  no  bloody 
road  of  impossible  republicanism  ;  we  will  have  no  such 
cutting  down  and  equalising  of  German  honours  and 
dignities,  no  such  sudden  wiping  out  of  our  history." 

He  worked  hard  for  the  election  of  Dahlmann  at 
Bonn,  writing  a  pamphlet  in  his  favour,  which  was  very 
widely  circulated,  but  failed  in  its  object  ;  the  Roman 
Catholics  in  the  place  carrying  the  day.  Of  his  own 
election  he  writes  to  Frau  von  Kathen  : 

"  I  have  just  received  your  sweet  letter,  dear  friend,  and 
hasten  to  send  a  few  words  in  answer,  as  I  have  a  quiet  Sunday 


^T.  78.J  Reception  at  Frankfort.  4^5 


hour,  and  going  in  a  few  days  to  Fran'Kfort,   I  do  not  know 
whether  I  shall  find  any  time  for  the  first  few  weeks." 

"  My  heartiest  thanks  for  your  Christian  wishes  for  our  dear 
Fatherland,  and  for  my  snow-white  head.  It  is  a  time  when 
one  must  learn  again  to  pray  right  well,  in  order  through  God 
to  go  into  it  with  redoubled  strength.  We  must  indeed  pray 
and  hope,  and  the  hope  is  at  its  strongest  in  me,  that  Germany 
and  the  German  race  everywhere  will  at  last  come  out  vic- 
torious from  the  woe  and  suffering  through  which  God  is 
leading  our  little  bit  of  world  history.  But  mountains  of 
difficulties,  and  indeed  of  cunningly  devised  obstructions,  lie 
before  us,  over  which  we  must  bravely  climb,  for  they  cannot 
be  hastily  leaped.  I  shall  at  least  walk  about  in  Frankfort  as 
the  good  old  German  conscience,  and  perhaps  in  that  way  and 
by  conversation,  by  v.'hich  most  things  in  this  world  are  ma- 
naged, may  lead  back  many  a  one  into  the  path  of  sense  and 
possibility.     May  God  overrule  it !" 

"You  are  glad  and  exult,  my  sweet  friend,  that  the  brave 
people  at  home  have  remembered  me,  and  chosen  me  for  their 
deputy  to  Frankfort.  It  is  a  great  joy  and  honour,  especially 
as  the  name  of  Stralsund  is  in  it.  But  I  have  been  obliged  to 
answer  '  No,'  as  I  had  already  consented  to  an  election  here 
on  the  Rhine.  Schwerin  therefore  will  take  my  place,  though 
he  will  be  greatly  missed  as  minister  in  Berlin.  However,  the 
great  decision  will  be  made  at  Frankfort,  and  there  we  need 
the  right  men.  Just  think,  I  have  been  chosen  for  four  places 
on  the  Rhine ;  for  Simmern,  Miilheim  on  the  Ruhr,  Essen  and 
Solingen.  I  have  decided  for  the  steel  and  iron  Solingers,  the 
iron-workers  and  armourers.  But  this  has  its  pain  also,  the 
pain  of  refusing,  and  that  I  have  had  to  refuse  my  native  place. 
I  was  almost  torn  in  pieces,  at  least  my  heart  was,  on  the 
evening  of  the  loth;  three  deputations  of  most  worthy  men 
were  with  me,  and  to  most  of  them  I  had  to  say  '  No,'  and  then 
came  others  with  splendid  music  and  singing,  accompanied  by 
the  colonel  and  officers  of  a  Magdeburg  regiment.  But  too 
much  already.  May  God  give  us  a  fine  summer,  and  brighten 
with  the  light  of  hope  the  many  black  storm-clouds  that  hang 
threateningly  over  us," 


426  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1848. 


In  Frankfort  he  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  old 
friends  of  the  time  of  the  War  of  Liberation,  and  among 
them  of  an  old  widow  of  seventy-five  years  of  age,  in 
whose  house  he  occupied  the  same  three  rooms  in  which 
he  had  been  quartered  thirty-five  years  before,  in  18 14. 

In  the  Paulus  Kirche  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Right 
Centre,  and  at  the  first  sitting  made  an  attempt  to 
speak,  merely,  however,  on  the  arrangement  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  House.  But  as  he  stepped  on  to  the  tribune 
he  was  interrupted  by  cries  of  "  Divide."  Their  refusal 
to  hear  him  annoyed  him,  and  still  more  his  friends  and 
admirers.  And  at  the  afternoon  sitting,  J.  Venedig, 
from  Cologne,  addressing  the  House,  said  he  thought 
they  could  not  have  known  that  it  Avas  E.  M.  Arndt 
whom  they  had  refused  to  hear.  He  was  called  to  the 
tribune,  and,  amid  storms  of  applause,  made  the  follow- 
ing speech  : 

"  Flattered  I  do  not  feel  myself,  but  touched  by  this 
recognition  from  the  delegates  and  representatives  of  a 
great  and  honourable  people,  whose  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings I  have  at  least  shared  from  my  youth.  What  an 
individual  has  done  and  deserved  is  a  small  matter  ;  it 
goes  into  the  millions  of  thoughts  and  feelings  which  are 
the  intellectual  development  of  a  great  nation,  as  a  little 
raindrop  in  the  ocean.  My  feeling  when  I  presented 
myself  was  that  I  should  stand  here,  an  old  man  beyond 
the  age  in  which  a  man  can  hope  to  do  anything,  like 
an  old  conscience;  the  good  conscience  of  which  I  am 
aware"  (immense  applause)  "made  me  feel  I  might  appear 
among  many  men,  and  many  young  men  whom  I  have 
the  happiness  to  know  :  and,  indeed,  it   is   the  good  old 


^T.  78.]  Murder  of  tJie  two  Deputies.  427 


German  conscience  which  believes  in  the  immortality  of 
his  people."     (Storms  of  applause.) 

As  he  ceased,  at  the  suggestion  of  Soiron  and  Jahn, 
the  whole  assembly,  with  a  threefold  Hoch !  returned 
him  thanks  for  the  great  national  song  "Was  ist  des 
Deutschen  Vaterland  ?"  and  requested  him  to  add  some 
lines  to  it  with  reference  to  the  circumstances  of  that 
year. 

He  afterwards  spoke  but  seldom ;  his  only  speech  of 
any  length  being  on  the  subject  of  the  position  the 
nobility  were  to  occupy  under  the  new  constitution.  He 
defended  their  order  zealously  against  the  attacks  of 
the  republicans,  and  warned  them  by  the  example  of 
France  not  to  try  to  introduce  "the  monstrous  new 
liberty  which  would  ultimately  subject  them  to  a 
Dictator,  and  their  press  to  greater  pressure."  He  also 
intended  to  have  spoken  on  the  subject  of  Poland,  and 
had  prepared  a  speech  for  the  occasion,  but  was  pre- 
vented from  delivering  it. 

He  took  part  in  the  election  of  the  Archduke  John 
of  Austria  as  Regent  (Reichsverweser)  until  the  con 
stitution  should  be  completed,  and  supported  him  in 
the  formation  of  his  ministry ;  and  in  the  dispute  about 
the  armistice  with  Denmark,  which  had  such  lamentable 
consequences,  he  took  a  prominent  part. 

When  Prussia,  after  having,  in  feigned  submission  to 
the  National  Assembly,  made  war  with  Denmark,  con- 
cluded an  armistice  on  her  own  responsibility,  Arndt 
had  joined  with  Dahlmann  in  advising  the  Assembly  to 
refuse  to  ratify  it  ;  but  when,  in  consequence,  the 
ministry  resigned,  and  it  was  found  impossible  to  form 


428  Life  of  Ariidt.  [a.d.  1848, 

another,  he  separated  from  his  friends.  Rising  in  the 
Assembly,  he  said,  "  Under  the  present  circumstances  of 
lawlessness  and  lack  of  leaders,  and  with  the  possibility 
before  us,  that  without  ministers  nothing  can  be  done, 
and  a  great  misfortune  will  occur,  I  have  altered  my 
opinion.  No  one  will  say  that  I  have  become  a  liar 
and  deceiver,  that  I  have  acted  either  like  a  trickster  or 
a  weathercock." 

Dahlmann  was  supported  only  by  the  Left,  and  the 
motion  to  refuse  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  was  re- 
jected. The  miserable  scenes  that  followed,  the  attack 
of  the  mob  on  the  Paulus  Kirche,  the  riots  in  the  streets 
in  which  the  two  deputies,  Prince  Lichnowsky  and 
General  Auerswald,  were  brutally  murdered,  cut  Arndt 
to  the  quick. 

"  The  sight  of  such  a  deed  as  this 
Doth  break  the  heart  in  two." 

Heinrich  Laube,  in  "Das  erste  deutsche  Parlament,"  gives 
the  following  description  of  Arndt  at  Frankfort.  He  is 
relating  the  account  of  the  division  on  the  question  of 
the  closer  and  freer  confederation,  whether  Austria, 
having  refused  to  enter  into  the  intimate  alliance 
required  by  the  proposed  constitution  of  the  New 
Empire,  might  be  permitted  to  join  it  in  a  freer 
sense. 

"  Every  name  was  listened  to  with  intense  excitement.  The 
letter  A  brought  as  many  '  noes'  as  '  ayes,'  and  when  old  Arndt 
cried  '  Ja,'  the  bitter  feeling  found  vent  in  cries  from  the  Left 
of  the  last  line  of  the  old  singer's  hymn,  '  Das  ganze  Deutsch- 
land  soil  es  sein  ("  The  whole  of  Germany  shall  it  be  ").  The 
papers  did  not  fail  to  relate  that  the  old   man  sank  down 


•/ET.  78.]  Despondency.  429 

crushed  and  frightened  by  this  bitter  reminder  of  the  contra- 
diction. But  not  a  word  of  that  is  true.  Ernst  ^Nloritz 
Arndt  is  too  strong  an  old  boy  to  be  affected  or  intimi- 
dated by  sarcasms.  .  .  .  On  the  contrary,  the  white  head  and 
the  still  active  figure  in  the  blue  German  coat,  made  a  half-dis- 
gusted, half-angry  motion  towards  the  objectors,  as  if  he  wanted 
to  say,  'You  don't  understand  at  all,  and  you  least  of  all  should 
quote  my  song  to  me.'  But  he  soon  laughed  in  his  good- 
humoured  way,  considering  difference  of  opinion  as  belonging 
necessarily  to  human  nature.  This  mildness  of  disposition, 
however,  never  hindered  him  during  the  time  of  the  Parliament 
from  having  very  strong  opinions,  or  from  defending  them 
firmly.  In  the  most  difticult  questions  he  went  on  to  the  tri- 
bune unconcerned  about  his  popularity,  and  declaimed  against 
the  French  levelling  ideas  until  he  tore  it  to  shreds.  There 
was  everywhere  a  certain  confidence  in  him,  as  in  a  well-tried 
traveller  or  soldier,  who  has  weighed  everything  well,  and  will 
not  have  his  mouth  stopped  by  any  one.  True  to  the  core  ! 
The  shell  may  be  damaged  by  years,  but  even  this,  for  the  old 
man  of  seventy,  whom  one  met  constantly  in  the  roads  near 
Frankfort,  was  wonderfully  strong;  but  the  man  himself  had  only 
grown  stronger  since  the  time  of  his  opposition  to  Napoleon, 
and  to  the  restoration  of  the  poHce  system.  With  his  loud 
voice  he  was  ever  in  society  a  terror  to  all  those  delicately- 
woven  schemes  Avhich  had  no  need  of  energetic  resolutions. 
To  the  last  breath  of  the  Parliament  he  w^as  one  of  the  most 
determined  on  the  side  of  a  German  constitutional  federal 
state,  in  the  first  place,  and  for  union  with  Austria  in  the 
second." 

The  difficulties  in  the  task  that  Arndt  and  his  party 
had  set  before  themselves  grew  greater  as  they  went 
on,  and  proved  at  times  sufficient  to  damp  even  his 
youthful  ardour  (he  was  now  on  the  verge  of  eighty). 
How  doubtful  he  felt  of  ultimate  success  may  be  seen 
in  the  following  letters  : 


430  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1848. 

E.  M.  A.  to  Frau  Billroth. 

"Frankfort,  Oct.  25,  1848. 

"  Life  casts  its  shadows,  but  also  its  lights  around  and  behind 
it.  For  us,  dear  friend,  the  evening  sun  is  already  throwing 
long  shadows,  but,  thank  God,  there  are  streaks  of  light  for  those 
who  believe  in  eternity  and  immortality — I  would  rather  say 
the  streaks  of  light  grow  longer  as  we  grow  older.  Such 
thoughts  and  considerations  come  to  one  from  the  world  of 
souls,  when  one  turns  to  old  friends,  and  to  old  feelings  and 
recollections;  but  they  are  disturbed  and  fly  away  most  rapidly 
when  one  looks  at  life  here,  as  it  journeys  along  wildly,  madly, 
blindly,  in  a  kind  of  delusion,  carrying  away  with  it  many  poor 
fools  andcrazy  mortals,  either  with  or  against  their  will. 

"  But  there  are  things  which  a  man  does  not  willingly  dis- 
cuss with  ladies,  although  they  affect  the  whole  world.  You 
dear  children  will  certainly  wonder  how  I,  at  my  great  age,  came 
to  be  drawn  into  the  struggle  of  the  day.  Indeed,  I  never 
thought  of  leaving  my  quiet  garden,  but  such  things  happen  of 
themselves  ;  that  is,  one  gets  into  them  witliout  knowing  how. 
I,  for  my  part,  had  nothing  to  do  with  it ;  chosen  in  my  home, 
chosen  for  four  places  on  the  Rhine,  I  selected  iron  Solingen ; 
and  if  my  labours  can  no  longer  be  of  importance,  I  am  pro- 
bably sitting  in  the  place  of  a  worse  man.  To  be  really 
efficient  I  ought  to  be  thirty  years  younger,  and  able  to  spring 
on  tables  and  chairs  in  the  disputes  and  struggles  of  the  prepa- 
ratory meetings,  and  to  take  my  part  in  the  different  party 
quarrels.  However  we  are  tolerably  brave  and  sensible  here 
in  Frankfort,  and  are  still  far  from  the  frenzy  of  the  Berliners, 
who  would  be  mad  enough  to  plunge  the  whole  Fatherland 
into  destruction.  My  life  here,  as  I  have  written  to  Lotte,  is 
pleasant  enough,  and  I  have  plenty  of  old  and  young  friends  in 
this  beautiful  and  good  town,  who  try  in  every  way  to  make  my 
life  cheerful" 

E.  M.  A.  to  Frau  von  Kathen. 

"Jan.  3,  1849. 

"  '  What  a  year  the  past  has  been  !'  you  cry  with  grief;  and  I 
feel  that  all  your  feelings  go  with  the  cry.     When  will  peace  on 


^T-  78-]  Election  of  the  Emperor.  43  r 


earth  and  goodwill  from  heaven  to  men  be  sung  again  ?  And 
who,  dear  friend,  will  not  join  in  that  cry  ?  And  yet,  when  one 
looks  back,  and  quietly  considers  life  and  its  history,  one  learns  to 
consider  many  grievous  appearances  of  the  day  as  most  natural 
and  unavoidable.  It  is  a  new  epoch,  it  is  a  slowly  prepared 
product  of  the  times,  and  there  will  be  many  more  commotions 
and  convulsions  before  it  grows  quiet  again.  If  only  these 
convulsions  be  not  too  terrible,  and  have  not  too  much  of  the 
red  cap  about  them  !  You  are  right :  there  is  still  faith  in  the 
people ;  in  spite  of  the  clamour  of  the  seditious,  there  is  much 
quiet,  hidden  faith  still  alive,  and  it  showed  itself,  happily, 
when  the  wretched  rogues  and  fools  in  Berlin  wanted,  with  a 
daring  stroke,  to  overset  the  whole  State.     .     .     . 

"  In  the  next  few  weeks  we  shall  come  here  to  the  chapter 
of  the  German  Chief  King  or  Emperor.  You  can  imagine  what 
excitement  and  emotion  in  heart  and  head  this  causes,  and, 
besides,  what  intrigues  and  conspiracies  of  the  most  artful  and 
varied  sort.  If  people  do  their  duty,  if  they  obey  their  reason  and 
their  consciences  as  they  ought  to  speak,  it  could  be  no  other 
than  our  lord  the  King  of  Prussia.  I  still  hope,  but  wager 
one  cannot  certainly,  that  reason  will  conquer.  Even  for  the 
kings  and  princes  of  Germany  it  would  be  the  only  escape,  but 
are  they  wiser  than  the  multitude?  Do  not  many  of  them 
begin  secretly  to  cabal  and  to  undermine,  as  soon  as  the  cord 
of  the  redcapped  rioter  disappears  from  their  sight? 

"  But  no  more  of  such  artifices,  intrigues,  and  cords  !  We  will 
hold  fast  on  the  eternal,  on  that  which  builds  houses,  and 
builds  up  and  upholds  families,  friendships,  and  brotherhoods, 
on  love  and  faith  ;  we  will  place  our  hope  in  God,  and  pray 
that  in  the  wild  tumult  of  the  world  He  will  let  faith  and  love 
live  and  rule  in  us  and  in  the  people.     So  all  at  last  will  stand 


secure." 


To  Arndt's  great  satisfaction  "  reason  "  did  at  last 
conquer ;  the  Constitution  was  settled  and  agreed  to, 
and  on  the  28th  of  March,  1849,  the  Assembly  pro- 
ceeded  to   the   election    of    the   new   Emperor.      Two 


43-  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1848. 

hundred  and  forty-eight  members  abstained  from 
voting ;  but  the  remaining  two  hundred  and  ninety 
were  unanimous  for  the  King  of  Prussia. 

Once  more  all  Arndt's  hopes  seemed  about  to  be 
fulfilled.  "  But  when  the  constitution  was  planned  and 
agreed  to,  and  the  Emperor  chosen  and  proclaimed 
amid  the  pealing  of  the  Frankfort  bells,  just  one  trifle 
was  wanting — the  Emperor  !" 

At  the  beginning  of  the  month,  seeing  that  matters 
were  taking  a  course  favourable  to  his  wishes,  he  wrote 
the  following  letter  to  the  king,  Frederick  William  IV. 

"  Most  illustrious  King  !  Most  gracious  King  and  lord  ! 
To  God  and  to  the  King  a  man  may  speak  freely,  and  present 
his  petitions  and  prayers.  And  now  I  come  before  my  King, 
praying,  hoping,  and  supplicating,  from  the  depths  of  a  most 
faithful  heart,  and  pointing  out  what  this  old  heart  feels  that 
it  must  point  out. 

"  In  Europe,  and  especially  in  Germany,  our  Fatherland,  we 
are  now  standing  on  a  sharp  point  of  time,  as  it  were  on  the 
point  of  a  piercing  sword.  At  the  same  moment  we  have  the 
great  question  of  unity  and  strength  within,  and  force  for  with- 
out. There  is  danger  on  all  sides,  but  certainly  the  greatest 
danger  will  result  from  indecision  and  irresolution,  or  from  the 
idea  that  this  danger  may  be  averted  by  delay,  that  the  wild 
forces  of  the  time  may  be  tired  out  by  tedious  procrastination 
and  negotiadon.     Ah,  no  !  no  ! 

"  This  danger  must  be  looked  at  steadily,  and  Prussia,  to 
whom  peril  has  so  often  been  a  sun  leading  to  victory, 
must  let  her  eagle  free  to  fly  boldly,  and  seize  and  keep  her 
prey.  Yes,  most  illustrious  Sire,  time  presses,  danger  presses, 
and  both,  together  with  the  wishes,  prayers,  and  hopes  of  the 
good,  urge  Prussia  and  her  ruler  forward  into  brilliant  pre- 
eminence, and  will  continue  to  urge.  Yet,  stay,  the  thought 
of  the  flight  of  the  old  Prussian  eagle  is  carrj'ing  me  away,     I 


^T.  79.]  Letter  to  the  King.  433 

will  try  to  think  and  speak  calmly.  Your  Majesty  has,  in  the 
fulness  of  your  power  and  in  the  conviction  of  an  unavoidable 
necessity,  declared  yourself  in  favour  of  a  strong,  honourable, 
German  federal  state,  in  the  place  of  the  earlier  unhonoured 
and  decrepit  confederation  of  states.  You  have  vowed  to 
devote  all  your  power  and  all  the  strength  of  your  people  to 
the  strengthening  of  Germany.     Germany  believes  your  word. 

"  You  will  never  break  it.  This  royal  wOrd,  the  strength  of 
the  bond  by  which  Prussia  and  Germany  are  made  one,  is  the 
only  possible  way  by  which  the  honour  and  glory  of  the  Father- 
land, and  the  existence  of  German  kings,  princes,  and  free 
states,  may  be  saved  in  the  future.  The  ratification  of  this  great 
promise,  the  actual  foundation  of  this  federal  state,  the  bold 
facing  of  every  danger  in  the  way,  is  required  above  all  from 
the  King  of  Prussia,  the  most  powerful  and  illustrious  ruler  in 
the  Fatherland.  All  whom  God  has  not  struck  with  blindness 
can  see  in  the  King  of  Prussia  the  preserver  and  saviour  of 
Germany,  and  its  future  master.  But  now,  at  this  moment, 
Austria,  who  for  three  centuries  has  been  ruining  the  honour 
and  power  of  Germany  by  fraud  and  intrigue,  steps  in  with  her 
old  wiles,  and  wants  to  take  us  in  tow  again.  She  creeps  in 
among  us,  even  in  this  assembly,  like  a  snake,  and  collects  a 
crowd  of  other,  little  snakes  around  her,  even — to  show  what 
her  intentions  are,  namely,  to  weaken  and  to  embarrass — all 
the  radical,  socialist,  and  communist  vermin  who  only  desire  a 
weak  and  wretched  government,  a  tottering  divided  Directory, 
by  the  establishment  of  which  a  Red  Republic  would  have 
become  unavoidable.  So  Austria  is  intriguing  by  means  of 
all  her  decoys,  of  v/hich  she  has  many  caught  and  trained  by 
her  restless  activity,  to  bring  back  the  old  Confederation  of  States. 
Her  endeavours  are  to  cause  confusion  and  division  in  everything, 
and  to  intrigue  with  and  deceive  cabinets  within  and  without. 
Oh,  the  poor  German  kings  and  princes  who  are  frightened  and 
befooled  by  her  arts  and  whisperings,  do  not  know  what  they 
are  doing.  If  they  do  not  help  to  strengthen  the  state,  if  they 
do  not  make  a  strong  Emperor  over  them,   they  will  be  un- 

28 


434  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S49. 

avoidably  swallowed  up  in  the  red  abyss.  Yes,  most  illustrious 
King  and  Sire,  the  danger  of  the  moment  is  great,  but  glorious 
too  is  the  prize  which  is  to  be  won  by  courage.  There  remains 
no  middle  course.  Dare  to  be  quite  German,  wholly  German, 
— dare  to  be  the  saviour  and  deliverer  of  the  Fatherland — dare 
to  share  all  its  dangers — dare  to  stand  wholly  by  the  Father- 
land, and  you  will  stand  and  withstand. 

"  With  this  courage — with  the  courage  with  which  your 
father  once  saved  it  from  the  greatest  dangers  and  necessities, 
and  raised  it  again  to  power  and  glory,  may  God  endow  you. 
With  this  royal  courage  keep  firm  to  your  royal  word  and  bold 
determinations.  Any  yielding  would  be  destruction.  Courage 
and  high-mindedness,  and  the  proud  majesty  which  shows  an 
open  front  to  every  danger,  will  encourage  your  fliithful  followers, 
and  make  them  strong  even  to  death,  and  will  win  for  you 
the  hearts  of  the  people  of  Germany.  In  the  greatness  of  this 
intrepidity,  in  the  splendour  of  this  elevation,  petty  complaints 
will  be  swallowed  up,  and  even  the  murmurs  and  absurdities 
of  the  radicals  and  socialists  will  be  lost  in  it.  My  heart  felt 
forced  to  pour  itself  out  to  my  king,  and  I  am  only  expressing 
the  feelings  of  many  of  the  most  upright  and  honest  Prussians 
and  Germans,  who  are  sitting  and  contending  in  the  assembly 
here. 

"  I  have  written  these  words  with  thought  and  prayer,  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  greatest  images  and  memorials  of  past  and 
present.  God's  wall  be  done,  and  it  will  be  done  in  earth  and 
heaven.  God  guard  and  preserve,  and  exalt  my  Fatherland 
and  my  King  ! 

"  To  my  most  gracious  King  and  Master,  in  German  faith, 
most  truly  and  loyally, 

"  E.  M.  Arndt, 
"  Professor  at  Bonn,  and  Deputy  for  the  Kreis-Solingen. 

"  Written  from  the  old  Imperial  city,  Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
March  9,  1849,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  my  age." 

To  this  letter  the  King,  with  little  delay,  sent  the 
following  reply : 


^T.  79.]  The  Kin^s  Ansiver.  435 

"March  18,  1849. 

"You  have  written  me,  my  dear  worthy  M.  Arndt,  a  fresh 
youthful  letter,  in  your  eightieth  year,  from  Frankfort,  once 
the  election-place  of  the  Roman  Emperors  ;  and  I  am  about 
to  answer  it  in  great  haste,  indeed,  but  not  superficially.  And 
first,  thanks  from  a  full  heart,  for  it  is  a  right  genuine  German 
who  has  written  to  me.  With  such  a  one  who  gives  honour 
to  the  history  of  his  Fatherland,  and  has  learnt  what  a  German 
prince  is,  I  can  speak  heart  to  heart  and  mind  to  mind.  Un- 
derstand me  rightly ;  because  what  I  have  said  is  no  empty 
phrase,  therefore  I  answer  you  and  answer  you  with  joy,  though 
I  cannot  suppose  that  the  answer  will  give  pleasure  to  my  dear 
old  Arndt. 

"  The  beginning  of  your  letter  is  fine,  like  the  whole  letter. 
For  the  sake  of  my  conscience,  I  may  say,  that  I  divide  the 
sentence,  that  is,  that  you  know  as  well  as  myself  that  a  man 
prays  to  God  alone,  and  can  owly  pet itio7i  the  King. 

"  Now  you  make  your  petition  to  him  that  he  will  accept  a 
'  crown  offered'  to  him.  Here  every  one  who  can  count  more 
than  fourteen  years  would  desire  to  ask,  to  examine,  to  con- 
sider, ist,  who  offers;  and  2nd,  what  is  offered;  and  first  let 
me  declare  that  the  abominable,  disgusting  slime  of  the  year  '48 
did  not  wash  away  my  sacramental  grace,  but  rather  that  I  have 
washed  off  the  slime,  and  will  wash  it  off  still  more  if  necessary. 
But  to  the  matter  !  The  great  assembly  which  calls  itself  the 
German  Imperial  or  National  Assembly,  of  which  a  satisfac- 
torily large  part  is  composed  of  the  best  men  of  the  great  Fa- 
therland, has  neither  a  crown  to  give  nor  to  off"er.  It  has  to 
sketch  a  constitution,  and  then  to  come  to  an  understanding 
with  all  the  rulers  and  free  towns  recognised  by  the  whole  of 
Europe.  What  authority  has  been  given  to  these  men,  which 
justifies  them  in  setting  a  king  or  an  emperor  over  the  lawful 
superiors  to  whom  they  have  sworn  allegiance  ?  Where  is  the 
council  of  the  kings  and  princes  of  Germany  which,  according 
to  the  practice  of  a  thousand  years,  elected  the  king  for  the 
Roman  empire,  and  then  laid  the  choice  before  the  people  for 
ratification  ?     Your  assembly  has  constantly  opposed  the  form- 

28—2 


436  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1849. 

ing  of  this  council,  and  the  representation  of  the  German  rulers 
in  the  new  centre  of  the  nation.  This  is  a  monstrous  fault ;  it 
may  even  be  called  a  sin,  and  now  every  one  at  Frankfort — 
even  those  who  are  not  clear  about  cause  and  effect — feels  that 
with  so  much  merit,  such  great  effort,  and  in  part  such  pure 
intentions,  they  are  labouring  at  a  certain  impossibility.  Do 
you  think  that  heart-moving  scenes,  words,  and  decisions  of 
the  Parliament  can  make  the  impossible  possible  ?  Supposing, 
my  dear  Arndt,  that  the  sin  had  not  been  committed,  or  that 
it  had  been  repaired,  and  that  the  true  genuine  council  of  the 
princes  and  the  people  had  made  their  election  at  the  old 
election  city,  and  now  offered  me  the  real,  lawful,  thousand- 
year-old  crown  of  the  German  nation — then  it  would  be  pos- 
sible for  me  to  proceed  to  refuse  or  to  take — and  I  should 
answer  as  a  man  must  answer,  to  whom  the  highest  honour  of 
this  world  is  offered.  But  ah,  this  is  not  the  case  !  About  the 
embassy  which  the  newspapers  and  your  letter  warn  me  to 
expect,  it  becomes  me  to  be  silent.  I  dare  not  and  will  not 
answer,  lest  I  should  wound  men  whom  I  honour  and  love,  on 
whom  I  look  with  pride  and  gratitude,  as  on  yourself,  my  old 
friend  ;  for  what  will  be  offered  me  ?  Is  a  crown  the  birth  of  the 
horrible  year  1848  ?  The  thing  of  which  we  are  speaking  does 
not  bear  the  sign  of  the  holy  cross,  is  not  stamped  with  the 
words,  "  By  the  grace  of  God,"  is  no  crown.  It  is  the  iron 
collar  of  servitude,  by  which  the  son  of  more  than  twenty-four 
rulers,  electors  of  kings,  the  head  of  sixteen  millions,  the 
master  of  the  truest  and  bravest  army  in  the  world,  would  be 
made  the  slave  of  the  revolution.  And  that  God  forbid  !  Besides, 
the  price  of  the  'jewel'  must  be  the  breaking  of  a  promise 
given  to  the  Landtag  on  February  26,  to  attempt  to  come  to  an 
understanding  with  the  German  National  Assembly  as  to  the 
future  constitution  of  the  great  Fatherland,  in  conjunction  with  all 
the  German  princes.  And  I  will  neither  break  this,  nor  any  other 
promise  I  have  given.  It  almost  seems  to  me,  my  dear 
Arndt,  as  if  you,  like  many  other  brave  and  good  men,  wer-e 
under  the  influence  of  an  error  ;  as  if  you  saw  in  the  revolution 
nothing  to  oppose  but  the  so-called  Red  Democracy  and  the 


^T.  79.]    King's  Refusal  to  take  the  Imperial  Croivn.    A.i'j 

Communists  !  the  error  would  be  serious  !  Those  men  of 
death  and  hell  can  only  work  on  the  living  ground  of  the 
revolution. 

"  The  revolution  is  the  abolition  of  divine  authority,  the 
despising  and  setting  aside  of  just  authority ;  it  lives  and  ex- 
hales its  deathly  breath,  so  long  as  Under  is  Uppermost  and 
Upper  is  Under.  So  long,  therefore,  as  the  German  rulers  have 
no  place  in  the  central  power  at  Frankfort,  do  not  take  the 
highest  place  in  the  council  which  is  called  to  decide  the  fate 
of  Germany,  so  long  as  this  central  power  is  in  the  stream  of  the 
revolution,  and  is  carried  along  by  it,  so  long  it  has  nothing 
to  offer  which  pure  hands  may  touch.  As  a  German  and  a 
German  prince,  whose  Yes  is  decisive,  and  No  deliberate,  I  will 
enter  upon  nothing  which  can  degrade  my  glorious  Fatherland, 
or  expose  it  to  the  .just  scorn  of  its  neighbours  or  of  posterity. 

"  I  will  accept  nothing  which  is  not  consistent  with  my  here- 
ditary duties,  or  which  would  hinder  the  performance  of  them. 
Dixl  d  salvavi  animain  mcavi.  This  letter  is  for  you  alone,  my 
old  friend.  You  must  allow  the  necessity  of  keeping  it  secret. 
I  lay  it  upon  you  as  a  duty.  Lay  my  words  to  heart,  and  under- 
stand that  I  cannot  do  otherwise  without  being  unfaithful  to 
myself  Then  consider  the  matter;  talk  to  your  friends,  to 
prudent  and  able  men ;  then  raise  your  voice  in  Parliament, 
and  demand  the  one  thing  that  is  needful  and  that  is  lacking — 
'  lawful  order.'  Often  interrupted,  I  bring  these  lines  to  a  close 
at  last  on  the  anniversary  of  the  fatal  night  of  the  iSth.  If  the 
latest  news  do  not  deceive  us,  prudence  and  sagacity  are  win- 
ning the  day  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main.  God  grant  it !  And 
may  He  add  His  mighty  Amen  as  I  close  with  the  name  of 
the  day — L^etare  ! 

"  To  you,  the  singer  of  that  inspiring  song  which  is  as  un- 
suitable to  the  March  Emperor  as  the  '  ]Marseillaise  '  was  to  the 
July  King,  to  you,  dearest  Arndt,  I  tender  my  hand  from  the 
depths  of  my  heart. 

"  Your  affectionate  King  and  good  friend, 

(Signed)         "  Frederick  AA'illiam." 

Disappointing  as  this  letter  must  have  been  to  Arndt, 


438  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S49. 

he  would  not  allow  himself  to  give  up  hope.  Obeying 
strictly  the  injunction  of  the  King,  he  never  mentioned 
the  letter  to  any  one,  and  it  was  not  discovered  until 
after  his  death.  He  seems  to  have  comforted  himself 
at  the  time  with  the  thought  that  it  was  written  when 
the  election  was  still  doubtful,  and  that  the  decision  of 
the  Parliament  would  have  power  to  change  the  King's 
mind.  At  any  rate,  he  was  one  of  the  deputation  sent 
by  the  Parliament  to  Berlin  to  offer  the  crown  to  the 
King. 

He  was  received  with  enthusiasm  at  every  place  he 
passed  on  the  road,  old  and  young  crowding  to  shake 
hands  with  him  wherever  he  stopped,  and  he  was  called 
upon  so  often  to  address  the  crowds  who  assembled, 
that  he  was  soon  quite  hoarse  with  the  exertion. 

When  the  King  received  them  on  the  3rd  of  April, 
he  noticed  Arndt,  and  expressed  his  surprise  that  he 
had  come  ;  but  as  the  rest  of  the  deputation  were  igno- 
rant of  the  letters  that  had  passed  between  them,  his 
remark  was  understood  by  Arndt  only. 

Having  received  the  King's  answer  that  he  could 
only  accept  the  crown  if  all  the  German  princes  gave 
their  consent,  the  deputation  returned  to  Frankfort, 
whither  they  were  followed  on  May  1st  b}-  the  King's 
final  refusal.  Unwilling  to  acknowledge  that  all  hope 
was  over,  Arndt,  and  those  who  thought  with  him, 
lingered  still  some  days  at  Frankfort. 

The  Parliament  decided  to  declare  the  New  Constitu- 
tion established,  but  to  leave  the  throne  vacant  for  the 
present,  and  on  their  own  authority  proceeded  to 
summon   the   first   Reichstag,   to  meet   on   the    15th   of 


JET.  79.]    King's  Refusal  to  take  the  Imperial  Crown.     439 

August.  But  it  was  evident  to  all  that  the  attempt  to 
unite  Germany  had  failed ;  and  as  this  conviction 
gained  ground,  the  riots  began  again  in  several  places. 

A  majority  of  the  Assembly  showed  signs  of  favouring 
the  rioters,  and  the  party  to  which  Arndt  belonged  felt 
that  they  were  being  drawn  into  revolution.  On  the 
20th  ]\Iay,  therefore,  he  joined  with  most  of  the  moder- 
ate men  in  a  declaration  of  their  opinions  and  wishes, 
and  then  finally  left  the  Assembly. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

LAST   YEARS. 

Returns  to  Bonn. — Resigns  his  Professorship. — "  Pro  populo  Germanico." — 
Marriage  of  his  Daughter. — Tercentenary  of  University  of  Greifswald. 
— Poems. — 90th  Birthday. — Death  and  Funeral. — Monument. 

His  work  at  Frankfort  being  thus  at  an  end,  Arndt  re- 
turned to  his  Httle  house  on  the  Rhine.  The  disappoint- 
ment had  been  great,  and  his  position  was  not  an  easy- 
one.  He  belonged  to  a  party  which  had  failed.  Dahl- 
mann  and  his  friends  were  looked  at  askance  both  by 
the  aristocratic  party  and  by  the  Republicans.  Mean- 
while it  was  found  necessary  to  bring  armed  force  to 
bear  upon  the  rioters.  The  rebellion  in  Baden  was  put 
down  by  Prussian  troops,  the  Prussian  Parliament  was 
cleared  by  the  soldiers,  and  once  more  order  was  es- 
tablished throughout  the  country.  But  with  it  came  the 
old  spirit  ;  it  became  unfashionable  to  speak  of  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  people,  and  Arndt,  "  rather 
than  adopt  the  new  courtly  tone,  preferred  to  keep  to 
his  little  house  and  his  trees  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine." 
After  his  return  from  Frankfort  he  wrote  to  Frau  von 
Kathen  : 

"  Here  I  am  again,  dear  friend,  in  my  own  home,  listening  to 
my  own  nightingales  singing  round  me,  and  my  own  limes  and 
birches  rustling  and  whispering  round  me,  round  one  not  quite 


^T.  79—90.]  Resignation  of  His  Professorship.  441 

fresh  and  cheerful.  The  labours,  cares,  and  vexations  of  a  long, 
hard  year  have  taught  the  old  man  of  eighty  to  know  the 
measure  of  the  strength  left  to  him.  But  I  have  to  thank  God 
that  in  this  hard  year  I  have  not  for  a  single  day  been  so  ill  that 
I  have  had  to  stay  at  home.  Yes,  there  has  been  much  trouble 
and  labour,  as  it  appears,  labour  in  vain,  and  yet  it  will  not  be  in 
vain,  though  the  empty,  blind,  fantastic  whims  and  idle  arro- 
gance of  kings,  the  madness  of  many  fools  and  the  wickedness 
of  a  few  rogues,  have  meddled  with  it,  and  brought  themselves 
and  us  all  into  bloody  confusion,  such,  however,  as  is  unavoid- 
able in  a  time  of  such  great  changes. 

"  In  such  a  frame  of  mind,  dear  friend,  I  received  and  read 
and  re-read  your  sweet  and  kind  Whitsun  greeting,  with  all  the 
recollections  which  it  brought  back  to  me,  and  I  well  under- 
stand your  'Whence  and  Whither?'  And  yet  I  am  almost 
entirely  of  a  different  opinion,  and  look  at  the  matter  in  quite 
a  different  way  from  what  you  seem  to  do.  It  is,  of  course, 
impossible  that  you  at  the  extreme  end  of  Germany  should 
see  and  understand  what  is  going  on  in  its  inmost  heart 
and  in  the  great  wide  world.  Something  great,  high,  and 
'  one "  is  being  sought  and  is  not  to  be  found.  The  better 
sort  of  those  in  the  Paulskirche  have  felt  and  thought  more 
nobly,  more  majestically,  more  royally  even  for  the  kings  and 
their  need,  than  they  themselves  could  think  and  feel.  For,  for 
the  most  part,  they  are  wanting  in  loftiness  of  thought,  in  the 
capacity  for  noble  government,  which  would  enable  them  to 
tame  the  madness  of  the  times ;  they  are  either  strange  fantas- 
tical men,  bewitched  with  the  doctrine  of  divine  grace,  or  men 
blinded  with  arrogance,  who  do  not  really  understand  the 
necessities  of  the  time  nor  the  changes  and  transformations  in 
which  God  has  a  part.  It  is  just  they  and  their  procrasti- 
nating agents  and  guides  who  are  working  most  effectually  for 
the  red  republic,  if  that  is  a  German  possibility." 

Earnest  as  he  had  been  in  opposing  the  partisans  of 
revolution  in  Frankfort,  yet  when  Gottfried  Kinkel  was 
in  danger  of  losing  his  life  on  account  of  the  part  he  had 


442  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1S49— 6o. 

played  in  the  uproars  in  Berlin,  he  was  the  first  to  sign 
his  name  to  a  petition  on  his  behalf. 

In  1S54  he  resigned  his  professorship,  moved  chiefly 
by  the  oppressive  political  atmosphere  of  the  time,  which 
forced  him  to  say,  "  that  a  man  would  be  driven  to 
despair  or  to  curse,  if  he  did  not  know  how  to  jDray." 
His  age,  indeed,  would  have  been  a  sufficient  excuse 
for  doing  so,  but  he  still  felt  few  of  its  infirmities. 
Writing  at  this  time  to  Frau  Pastorin  Baier,  Kosegarten's 
daughter,  who  some  fifty  years  before  had  been  his  pupil, 
and  alluding  to  the  hardships  to  which  he  had  been 
subjected  when  a  boy,  he  says  : 

"  I  probably  owe  it  to  this  that  I  can  still  get  about  pretty 
vigorously  without  stick  or  spectacles.  I  was  conscious  then  of 
noble,  pure  intentions;  and  went  bravely  and  hopefully  to  meet 
the  future.  I  thought  most  young  men  then  too  soft  and 
effeminate ;  but,  with  the  many  changes  of  this  last  genera- 
tion, with  the  cushioned  railway  carriages,  etc.,  this  vice  of 
effeminate  laziness  and  self-indulgence,  the  too  great  '  comfort 
of  life  '  for  which  everybody  is  struggling,  has  grown  much  worse 
and  more  dangerous.  I  say  I  was  hopeful  then,  and  when  I 
look  back  on  my  poor  little  life  and  efforts,  how  many  hopes 
have  I  plunged  into,  and  how  many  hopes  have  I  been  shaken 
out  of!  So  that  when  I  consider  the  events  and  changes  of 
Germany,  together  with  the  many  dismal  signs  in  the  sky,  I 
seem  almost  like  a  hopeless  old  man,  whose  horses  have  broken 
down  at  the  last  stage  of  his  journey." 

The  same  year  he  published  a  book  entitled  "  Pro 
Populo  Germanico."  It  was  in  fact  a  fifth  volume  of 
the  "  Spirit  of  the  Age,"  reviewing  the  condition  and 
position  of  Germany  and  the  other  States  of  Europe 
from  a  German  point  of  view.  "  A  voice  in  me,"  he 
says,  "  the  voice   of    conscience,  at  once    warning    and 


^T.  79—90.]    The  Religious  Side  of  His  Character.      443 


threatening — urges  me  on  :  '  Up  and  do  your  last  duty, 
before  your  eyes  close  for  ever  on  earth !'  It  is  almost 
forty  years  since  my  poor  fourth  '  Spirit,'  which  caused 
me  so  much  annoyance  in  its  time,  appeared  in  the 
German  world."  It  was  to  a  new  generation,  a  world  as 
it  were  transformed  by  railways  and  steamboats,  that 
he  was  writing  now.  The  general  tone  of  the  book 
betrays  the  deep  disappointment  which  the  Frankfort 
failure  had  cost  him.  Alluding  to  the  years  which  had 
passed  since,  he  says  : 

"I  cannot  speak  of  them,  because  of  the  real  pain;  I  may 
not  speak  of  them,  for  I  do  not  wish  uselessly  to  draw  down 
thunderbolts  on  my  old  snow-white  head.  The  rest  of  my 
days  must  pass  away  like  the  glimmer  of  a  dream.  From  the 
height  of  extreme  old  age  I  am  looking  down  into  the  deep 
valley ;  ray  evening  sun  will  not  set  in  golden  glory  or  with 
golden  hopes,  but  yet  I  do  not  surrender  all  brave  and  manly 
hopes.  I  trust  in  Providence,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Germans,  and 
cry  with  all  the  brave  apostles  and  prophets,  '  De  coelo  at  patria 
nunquam  desperandum.' " 

From  the  very  beginning  of  his  residence  at  Bonn  he 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  church.  He 
was  a  constant  member  of  the  presbytery,  except  during 
some  of  the  years  when  his  heaviest  trials  befel  him. 
In  1836  he  was  chosen  an  elder,  in  which  office  he  re- 
mained until  he  became  a  representative.  The  Lutheran 
and  Reformed  Churches  on  the  Rhine  had  formed  them- 
selves into  a  united  church  in  18 16,  a  year  before 
Frederick  William  III.  issued  his  proclamation  on  the 
subject.  Some  years  afterwards,  when  an  attempt  was 
made  on  the  Lutheran  side  to  dissolve  the  union,  Arndt 


444  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1849—60. 

was  specially  active  and  firm  in  opposing  it.  His  anxiety 
lest  the  miscellaneous  conversation  and  religious  discus- 
sions of  his  friends  should  perplex  his  daughter  has  been 
already  mxcntioned.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  talking 
over  with  her  and  her  young  friends  in  the  evenings 
religious  questions  such  as  the  times  suggested.  The 
neighbourhood  of  Cologne  and  Bonn  itself  was  of  course 
much  under  the  influence  of  Roman  Catholics,  and  he 
was  therefore  naturally  induced  to  direct  many  of  his 
thoughts  to  that  subject. 

He  had  opposed  the  plan  for  placing  the  university  at 
Cologne,  on  account  of  its  being  a  centre  of  Roman 
Catholicism,  and  the  publication  of  F.  von  Schlegel's 
"History  of  Literature"  stirred  him  to  a  warm  indig- 
nant defence  of  Protestantism,  which  however,  he  did 
not  publish  till  many  years  later.  To  Stein  he  writes  : 
I  think  myself  happy  at  least  that  I  have  been  born 
and  live  in  a  Protestant  land;  we  have  as  many  pious 
and  more  moral  men  than  the  Catholics,  and  our  in- 
tellectual freedom  and  unclouded  knowledge  gives  us 
quite  a  different  kind  of  inward  strength  and  stronger 
wings  for  soaring  upwards. 

In  all  his  works  the  religious  disposition  of  his  mind 
plainly  showed  itself.  He  had  always  traced  the  suffer- 
ings of  Prussia  and  Germany,  in  the  first  years  of  the 
century,  to  the  prevalence  of  infidelity  and  Voltaire-ism. 
'  Because  they  had  forgotten  God,  God  had  forgotten 
them ;  and  because  they  had  built  upon  nothing,  they 
had  become  nothing."  And,  in  stirring  language,  he 
called  upon  them,  "  first  of  all  to  look  to  God,  and  trust 
Him,  from  whom  all  things  come.     For  faith  in   God 


.^T.  79—90.]  Characteristic  Traits.  445 

does  wonders  daily ;  and  confidence  in  heaven  over- 
comes hell.  And  without  God  no  power  helps  man  ; 
and  all  which  is  built  by  mortal  arts  is  vanity."  This  is 
the  key-note  of  all  his  political  writings. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  his  little  book  on  Church 
Poetry,  published  in  18 19,  in  which  he  had  protested 
vehemently  against  the  colourless  hymns  in  vogue  at 
the  time.  In  1855  he  published  his  "  Geistliche  Lieder  '' 
(Spiritual  Songs),  in  the  preface  of  which  he  says,  "  If  I 
have  succeeded  a  little  in  my  attempts  to  speak  and 
sing  German,  I  owe  it,  like  many  others  of  German 
thoughts  and  feelings,  to  having  been  well  practised 
from  my  childhood  up  in  the  reading  of  Luther's  Bible. "^ 

His  only  daughter  Nanna  was  married,  in  1854,  to 
Ernst  Nitzsch  of  Kiel.  He  announced  her  engagement 
four  years  before  to  Frau  von  Kathen  as  follows  : 

"  I  have  some  pleasant  home  news  to  tell  you.  Our 
daughter  Nanna  Gottsgab  is  betrothed  to  a  brave  young  fellow. 
It  is  an  old  attachment,  for  he  studied  here  for  five  years  ;  is  a 
lawyer,  and  is  waiting  for  a  post ;  ex-first-lieutenant  in  the 
Holstein  Jagers ;  went  through  both  the  campaigns  against  the 
Danes,  thank  God,  safely  and  honourably,  though  not  without 
much  heart-quaking  for  my  little  daughter.  His  name  is  Ernst 
Nitzsch,  the  son  of  Professor  Nitzsch  of  Kiel,  member  of  the 
Council  of  State." 

With  all  his  natural  impetuosity  of  character,  Arndt 
knew  the  art  of  making  and  keeping  friends.  The  num- 
ber of  his  intimate  friends  was  large,  and  among  them 
were  Niebuhr  and  Dahlmann,  whose  natural  irritability 
of  character  frequently  brought  them  into  quarrels  and 
misunderstandings  with  others,  but  with  him  they  re^ 


446  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1849— 60. 

mained  in  unbroken  intimacy  till  death.  "  Always 
lively  and  fresh "  in  society,  he  would  throw  himself 
heartily  into  the  subject  of  conversation,  and,  with 
Welcker  and  Dahlmann,  would  "  inveigh  against  the 
miserable  fellows  by  whom  the  world  is  governed, 
brandishing  his  red  handkerchief  like  a  club  during  his 
wrathful  speech."  Dahlmann  tells  rather  an  amusing 
story  of  his  behaviour  in  aristocratic  company.    He  says  : 

"  When  the  hereditary  Prince  of  Meiningen  was  studying 
here,  he  was  visited  by  his  father,  the  reigning  Duke ;  and, 
among  others,  Arndt  and  I  were  invited  to  dinner  with  him. 
Arndt  was  very  animated,  and  told  a  great  many  stories  of  the 
great  years.  Suddenly  he  turned  to  me  with  his  glass  raised, 
saying  :  '  Isn't  it  really  a  shame,  Dahlmann,  that  we  have  not 
long  ago  got  to  the  familiar  "  Du  ?" '  and  then,  in  his  not  gentle 
voice,  he  tendered  me  his  brotherly  friendship,  to  the  unspeak- 
able amusement  of  the  Duke  and  other  notabilities  present." 

Endowed  with  a  wonderful  memory,  he  was  ready  to 
converse  on  recent  events,  or  to  tell  stories  of  things  that 
had  happened  seventy  or  eighty  years  before,  or  he  would 
reproduce  with  striking  vividness  scenes  from  ancient 
history.  A  stranger  having  one  day  called  upon  him, 
Arndt  discovered,  after  a  few  questions,  that  he  had 
known  the  young  man's  family,  and  proceeded  to  trace 
back  his  genealogy,  and  to  tell  him  facts  and  stories 
connected  with  his  family  in  the  days  of  Frederick  the 
Great,  until  the  visitor  took  his  departure,  perfectly 
bewildered  with  the  amount  of  new  information  he  had 
received  about  his  own  relations. 

On  his  true  and  ardent  patriotism  there  is  no  need  to 
insist,  but  there  is  a  story  told  of  him  by  Von  Ammon, 


^T-  79— 9°-]  Characteristic   Traits.  447 

which  it  may  be  worth  while  to  repeat.  It  was  during  the 
time  of  his  suspension  ;  liis  papers  had  been  for  ten  years 
in  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and,  after,  consultation 
with  some  of  his  friends,  he  determined  on  drawing  up 
a  petition  for  their  restoration,  and  showing  it  to  his 
friends  before  sending  it  to  the  King. 

"  In  the  meantime,  however,  the  July  revolution 
broke  out  ;  and  when  some  time  after  I  met  Arndt,  I 
asked  him,  quite  forgetting  this  circumstance,  \\\\y  he 
had  not  sent  the  proposed  sketch  of  the  petition.''  He 
answered,  '  Do  you  really  think  me  capable  of  turning 
the  distress  of  my  Fatherland  to  my  own  personal  profit  ?' 
And  so  he  bore  it  patiently  for  another  ten  years,  until 
at  last,  for  him  too,  justice  prevailed." 

The  University  of  Greifswald  celebrated  its  ter- 
centenary in  the  year  1856,  and  Arndt  Avas  earnestly  re- 
quested to  be  present  ;  "  but  neither  body  nor  mind,"  he 
answered,  "feel  equal  to  such  a  joy."  In  the  monument 
erected  to  celebrate  the  event,  his  statue  represented  the 
faculty  of  philosophy. 

At  the  request  of  Bunsen,  he  published,  in  1858,  a 
very  lively  description  of  his  old  master,  under  the  title 
of  "  Wanderings  and  Vicissitudes  with  Baron  vom 
Stein."  It  was  well  received,  and  was  read  with 
avidity  throughout  Germany  ;  only  in  Bavaria  was  it 
disapproved.  He  had  related  in  it  some  stories  by 
no  means  complimentary  to  Marshal  Wrede.  The 
Bavarian  Government  took  such  offence  at  it,  that 
proceedings  were  instituted  against  him,  and  on  his 
non-appearance  he  was  condemned  to  two  months'  im- 
prisonment and  a  fine  of  fifty  gulden,  with  the  whole 


44S  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  1849— 60. 

costs.  The  act  excited  great  surprise  throughout  Ger- 
many ;  even  his  old  opponent,  the  Allemeine  Zeitimg, 
expressed  its  indignation  in  no  measured  terms  ;  while 
on  the  evening  of  the  day  when  the  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced, the  inhabitants  of  Bonn  went  in  procession 
with  torches  to  the  old  man's  house. 

The  next  year,  1859,  ^^  prepared  for  the  press  a  new 
edition  of  his  poems.  His  health  seemed  unbroken. 
He  was  present  at  the  election  of  representatives  for  the 
Church  Synod,  and  attended  the  meeting  of  the  pres- 
bytery shortly  before  the  last  birthday.  In  Christmas 
week  he  wrote  the  preface  to  his  poems  : 

"  The  time  of  my  fading  is  near  : 
The  blast  that  shall  scatter  my  leaves." 

This  Ossianic  verse  the  birds  and  flying  leaves  in  the  winter 
wood  sing  to  the  old  man  of  ninety ;  an  exhortation  to  him 
to  set  his  house  in  order  and  arrange  his  little  matters. 

To  these  little  matters  belong  many  verses  and  rhymes  which 
have  been  flying  about  for  two  generations,  and  as  is  usual, 
have  been  reprinted,  altered,  improved  or  spoiled.  He  gives 
them  now  to  his  people  as  his  last  gift,  in  the  form  in  which 
they  first  left  his  hands.  Many  of  them  have  become  dear  to 
Germans,  not  on  account  of  their  excellence,  but  because  most 
of  them  are  true  children  of  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  our 
times,  children  of  the  moment  and  the  occasion.  With  them 
the  old  singer  and  writer  bids  all  his  friends  his  last  farewell. 

When  the  26th  of  December  came,  it  seemed  as  if  all 
Germany  wished  to  celebrate  his  ninetieth  birthday. 
Princes  and  burghers,  students  and  soldiers,  the  rector  of 
the  university,  the  commandant  of  the  town,  came  to  bring 
gifts  and  congratulations.     The  Prince  Regent  of  Prussia 


^T.  90.]  Funeral.  449 

sent  him  the  order  of  the  Red  Eagle  of  the  second  class. 
The  people  of  Berlin  presented  him  with  a  fine  marble 
bust  of  his  "invincible  knight,"  Stein.  Cologne  gave 
him  the  freedom  of  the  city.  The  burghers  of  Kahla 
sent  him  a  barrel  of  beer.  Music  and  song  resounded 
round  the  house  by  night  and  by  day.  Letters  with  con- 
gratulations and  good  wishes  poured  in  from  all  sides. 

The  warmth  of  the  affection  shown  him  touched  him 
deeply.  At  first  he  determined  not  to  answer  any  of 
the  letters,  as  they  were  too  numerous  for  him  to  answer 
them  all  ;  but  first  this  one  and  then  that  one  it  seemed 
necessary  to  answer,  until  he  found  himself  writing  about 
a  dozen  letters  a  day.  In  a  letter  to  Frau  Pastorin 
Baier,  written  on  January  2,  i860,  he  says,  "By  God's 
mercy,  at  ninety  years  of  age  I  am  still  so  well  that  I 
can  do  my  three  and  four  miles  (German)  over  hill  and 
dale  quite  briskly."  But  the  emotion  and  excitement 
proved  too  much  for  him.  Finding  himself  obliged  to 
go  to  bed  earlier  than  usual  one  day,  he  said,  "  Friends 
and  fools  have  done  for  me."  Fever  set  in,  and  he  lay 
now  in  a  gentle  slumber,  and  now  fancying  himself 
wandering  in  the  woods,  with  birds  hopping  and  singing 
around  him.  Once,  when  an  intimate  friend  came  in,  and 
he  was  asked  if  he  knew  him,  he  answered,  "  Oh  yes,  I 
know  him  ;"  and  turning  to  him,  said,  "I  am  dying  ;  in  a 
fortnight  it  will  be  all  over."  He  did  not  linger  so  long. 
On  January  29,  i860,  at  midday,  his  wife  heard  him  say, 
"  Close  my  eyes,"  and  he  passed  away. 

On  the  afternoon  of  February  1st,  he  was  laid  under 
the  oak  tree  beside  Wilibald.  His  four  sons,  Karl 
^igerich,  Roderich,  and  Leubold,  followed.     Hartmuth 

29 


450  Life  of  Arndt.  [a.d.  i860. 


had  gone  to  America.  At  the  head  of  the  long  pro- 
cession came  the  society  of  the  "  Veterans,"  of  which 
Arndt  had  been  president.  Then  came  the  students,  not 
only  of  Bonn,  but  many  from  Heidelberg,  Gottingen, 
Marburg,  Berlin,  and  other  universities  ;  the  professors 
and  dignitaries  of  the  university,  officers  of  the  garrison, 
the  civil  authorities,  and  a  great  multitude  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Bonn  and  the  neighbourhood.  At  the  grave 
some  verses  of  his  well-known  hymn,  "  Geht  nun  hin  und 
grabt  mein  Grab,"  was  sung. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  a  monument  was  erected 
to  his  memory.  The  proposal  was  no  sooner  made 
Avhen,  not  from  Germany  only,  but  from  every  corner  of 
the  earth  where  Germans  were  to  be  found,  came  contri- 
butions in  rich  abundance.  The  monument,  a  statue  in 
bronze,  was  unveiled  in  July,  1865.  Beneath  was  the 
inscription : 

"  Ernst  Moritz  Arndt. 

'  The  Rhine  Germany's  stream,  not  Germany's  boundary.' 

'Who  underground  the  iron  stored  cared  not  to  see  a  slave.' 

Erected  by  the  German  people,  mdccclxv." 

("  '  Der  Rhein  Deutschlands  Strom,  nicht  Deutschlands  Grenze.' 

'  Der  Gott  der  Eisen  wachsen  Hess,  der  wollte  keine  Knechte.' 

Errichtet  vom  Deutschen  Volke,  mdccclxv.") 


THE   END. 


BILLING   AND    SONS,    PRINTERS,    GUILDFORD,    SURREY. 


J!-     '■<!  j;^\^. 


09914 


•i'B  55256      Si 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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